More Resources   Anniversary Commission Press Release

Thank you all for accepting the call to serve on this Commission. It's good to see so many friends in the room today.

Howard University is an appropriate place to hold this first Commission meeting. So many of the heroes of the civil rights movement studied on this campus.

Many of the great legal minds, Thurgood Marshall and Charles Houston and so many others, worked together here to develop the legal strategies that culminated in important courtroom victories that made our country a better place for everyone to live.

And Brown versus the Board of Education stands as one of the greatest decisions ever handed down by the Supreme Court.

As you know, Thurgood Marshall argued this landmark case. Most people think it began when Oliver L. Brown's 3rd grade daughter was refused admission to her neighborhood school, just because of the color of her skin.

But you and I know that is only a small part of the story. The Brown litigation succeeded because of the courage and sacrifice of many, many people who were determined to bring this issue to the forefront of America's consciousness.

Members of this Commission come from all 5 states where the litigation began. And one of the primary goals of this Commission is to celebrate those many quiet heroes who sparked the Brown litigation—the attorneys who planned a complex legal strategy for years, the parents who risked their jobs and even their lives to bring these cases, and the students who became pioneers in integrating America's schools.

During oral arguments, Supreme Court Justice Frankfurter asked Thurgood Marshall what his definition of "equal" was. And Marshall replied, "Equal means getting the same thing, at the same time and in the same place."

And that is why the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 is one of the legacies of Brown v. Board of Education.

The message of Brown v. Board was: separate schools are inherently unequal.

The message of No Child Left Behind is: separate instruction, instruction that is based upon assumptions that certain children cannot learn, is inherently unequal. And this Administration, and I, as Secretary of Education, will not tolerate schools that practice the soft bigotry of low-expectations.

Education is a civil right. To deny that right is to cancel all other rights. An educated child is a child who can grow up to be a full participant in society, voting, finding meaningful work, getting involved in the community, and working to achieve his or her own American dream.

The goal of No Child Left Behind is to ensure that all children, of all races, receive a world-class education. The President and I are passionately committed to this goal.

When the Brown decision was handed down by the Supreme Court in 1954, I was in college at Jackson State, near my home town in Mississippi. The Brown decision had an immediate and powerful impact. But as you well remember, the Supreme Court added that phrase, "with all deliberate speed." And while the Supreme Court can change the law in one ruling, it cannot change people's hearts overnight! In my experience, the changes came slowly. Too slowly.

When I graduated from college, no graduate school in my home state would accept me because of my color. Indiana University would. So I went there.

But we have seen that over the years, slowly and steadily, the Brown decision laid the foundation for tremendous changes in our society. Many of us in this room are a living example of that. No one in the state of Mississippi in the early 1950s would have expected that a young black teenager from outside Jackson could become a member of the President's Cabinet. Yes, Brown made changes!

Again, I want to thank you for your willingness to serve on this Commission.

Congress, in creating this Commission, made it clear that your mission is to help coordinate and encourage the commemoration of the Brown decision.

I look forward to hearing your recommendations for how the Commission can work in conjunction with the Department of Education and the Brown Foundation to commemorate this important anniversary.

I now have the honor of administering to you the oath of office. Will you all please stand, raise your right hand, and repeat after me:

I DO SOLEMNLY SWEAR

THAT I WILL SUPPORT AND DEFEND THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES AGAINST ALL ENEMIES, FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC

THAT I WILL BEAR TRUE FAITH AND ALLEGIANCE TO THE SAME

THAT I TAKE THIS OBLIGATION FREELY, WITHOUT ANY MENTAL RESERVATION OR PURPOSE OF EVASION

AND THAT I WILL WELL AND FAITHFULLY DISCHARGE THE DUTIES OF THE OFFICE ON WHICH I AM ABOUT TO ENTER.

SO HELP ME GOD.

God bless you all.

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