Jim Crow's Children: The Broken Promise of the Brown Decision

Peter Irons, acclaimed historian and author of A People History of the Supreme Court, explores of one of the supreme court's most important decisions and its disappointing aftermath

In 1954 the U.S. Supreme Court sounded the death knell for school segregation with its decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. So goes the conventional wisdom. Weaving together vivid portraits of lawyers and such judges as Thurgood Marshall and Earl Warren, sketches of numerous black children throughout history whose parents joined lawsuits against Jim Crow schools, and gripping courtroom drama scenes, Irons shows how the erosion of the Brown decision—especially by the Court’s rulings over the past three decades—has led to the “resegregation” of public education in America.

Peter Irons is emeritus professor of political science at the University of California, San Diego. He is the author of five previous award-winning books. The most recent, A People's History of the Supreme Court, was awarded the Silver Gavel Certificate of Merit by the American Bar Association. His work has also been published in numerous law reviews and presitigious journals. In addition to his extensive academic contributions, Irons has also been very active in public affairs. For example, he was elected to two terms on the national board of the American Civil Liberties Union and was a practicing civil rights and liberties attorney. In the latter role, he notably served as lead counsel in the successful effort to reverse the World War Two criminal convictions of Japanese-Americans who challenged the curfew and relocation orders.