The final question that Professor Ogletree directs toward each member of the panel is, "Looking at where we are today,
how would you want to describe Brown’s legacy 50 years after that decision?" Judge Weinstein is the first to respond, arguing that "it
failed with respect to substantive, actual segregation and life effects" and that the many pending cases involving the New York City
school system are evidence that "we’ve not come as far as we’d hoped." He emphasizes the fact that until the country can
address the reality of life in the cities and is ready to devote itself to this issue, we will continue to regress.
Judge Pollak explains, "We have a mixed legacy" and that this is apparent in the poor state of American public education.
Ironically, Brown seems to have had the least impact on public schooling, which was exactly the institution that it was most intended to
help. Judge Pollak counters the acknowledgment of these shortcomings by stating: "If one looks beyond the school system and asks ‘What
has Brown meant for our country,' I think we have to say that ours is a country which, with all of its difficulties, is simply
transformed from where we were half a century ago."
Jack Greenberg compares the process of American integration with that of Eastern Europe, emphasizing the attention and
care provided to Gypsy and Roma families as they are being integrated. He says, however, that "Brown was the catalyst that broke up
that racist system," and that some aspects of education are currently better. He suggests that there will be future changes to the
residential and economic barriers maintaining segregation.
Judge Motley indicates the reality that fifty years after the Brown case, there are many young whites and blacks who are not familiar with the case,
or with its historical significance. However, she exalts in "the number of other minorities in our society who have lined up behind us, like
Hispanics and Asians and Indians."
Judge Carter believes that the "real legacy of Brown which should be emphasized is that it is principally a product of
black legal skills and vision," and that black lawyers were responsible for the case and its outcomes. However, Brown has not provided
America with equal schools, and we are forgetting our place in this process because "we don’t have the energy, or the interest, or the
will to make use of it."
Judge Pollak commends the individuals at Harvard Law School for their work, informing Professor Ogletree that if Thurgood
Marshall were there, he would express pride in just the kind of program that Professor Ogletree was developing on race and justice. In
response, Professor Ogletree expresses that he "couldn’t imagine a more important thing to do now than to continue the legacy of Charles
Hamilton Houston and Thurgood Marshall and all the rest of you." He insists that the Brown case is responsible for the fact that there
are black individuals in powerful positions, and that "the idea of the Institute is to take on and examine the serious issues that you
identified 50 years ago.… We are indeed paying tribute to you with what we’ve done…, and we are committed to never going back."
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