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Separate and Unequal

 



Remember “Separate but equal”? Remember how that really meant that Black schools languished in  broken-down buildings without adequate heat or toilet facilities, with cast-off, ragged learning materials, underfunded and largely ignored?

The Supreme Court struck that down in 1954. The evidence was clear that separate was not equal. Plessy v Ferguson had led to - - no, endorsed - - deeply unequal schooling and opportunities. We tend to think of Brown v Board as being purely about racial integration. It was not. 

It was about the logical consequences of segregation. And they were not, not, not equal.

The ruling in 1954 didn’t transform public education for non-whites into a land of milk and honey by any means. But it articulated some essential truths in a way that made including everyone a legal precedent which could be relied upon and built upon. It was better than what came before it but it rested upon unsteady ground.

It did not necessarily change the hearts or minds of Americans if they were not of a mind to change them.

On Thursday night five members of the Howard County Board of Education voted to reject a plan created by the Superintendent to address long standing neglect at Oakland Mills High School. These are their names:

Mallo

Watts

Chen

Ricks

Chamblee 

I have nothing to say about them today. No criticism, no characterization of why they voted. Their names are enough.

Oakland Mills High School continues to be a school with the most Black and Brown students with the most unmet financial need. This is the school that will not be renovated.

“Separate but equal.” What does that mean, exactly?

We know from experience that it means that privileged white people would like to be treated equally and fairly and then, if there’s anything left over, maybe we’ll think about those separate folks.

This is not the promise of public education. But it is the lived experience of those who are not valued. 

Do I think that the United States Supreme Court would honor the legal precedent of Brown v Board in Howard County, Maryland now?

Seems unlikely. What do you think? Our board has no reason to fear legal reckoning in 2026 from this SCOTUS.

Will the people of Howard County defend the rights of all students to learn even if our BOE and the Supreme Court will not?



Village Green/Town² Comments 


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  1. Julia A. McCreadyFebruary 28, 2026 at 4:00 AM

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