A Tale of Two Movements: The Power and Consequences of Misremembering 'Brown'

Wiley-Blackwell. 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148. Tel: 800-835-6770; Tel: 781-388-8598; Fax: 781-388-8232; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/

Y

22

Freedom; Textbooks; Democracy; High Schools; Court Litigation; School Desegregation; Racial Segregation; African Americans; Civil Rights; Social Justice; United States History; African American History; History Instruction; Government Role; Social Change; Activism; Misconceptions; Racial Relations; Racial Bias; Public Schools

10.1111/j.1744-7984.2006.00074.x

0077-5762

If, as James Anderson stated, a nation committed to democracy and equality has every reason to be ashamed on "Brown v. Board of Education's" 50th anniversary, why the commemoration and celebration? By revising Anderson's challenge to examine the complex role of "Brown" in the nation's memory and history, this chapter investigates how the decision and the broader black freedom struggle are memorialized, why the story is told in a particular way, and the consequences of that portrayal in understanding the nature of American democracy and equality. The first section of the chapter examines two of the historiographical tales of "Brown" and the black freedom struggle in the scholarly literature. The second part of the chapter investigates the treatment of the black freedom struggle and the "Brown" decision in high school history textbooks.

ERIC

78

2010

EJ885553