Key takeaways as a Delaware panel marks 70th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education

Most people understand the Brown v. Board of Education decision as one of the most definitive cases in education and American history. On Tuesday, though, a special panel looked to remind listeners of not only how closely Delaware is tied to that story — but how that relevance still echoes.

The decision, eventually stripping the country of its "separate but equal" doctrine across schools, just marked a 70th anniversary this month . Two cases from Delaware joined that landmark case at the Supreme Court, Bulah v. Gebhart and Gebhart v. Belton, led by Wilmington powerhouse attorney and civil rights advocate Louis L. Redding.

Delaware Division of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion invited several speakers to dive into this intersection. State officials were joined by the Rev. JB Redding, daughter of Louis L. Redding; René Ricks-Stamps, daughter of plaintiff Shirley Bulah; Justice C.J. Seitz Jr., of the Delaware Supreme Court and son of late judge Collins J. Seitz; and James “Sonny” Knott, a 94-year-old former student of the very school they sat in. More names lined the list.

Speakers and a small audience packed Hockessin Colored School #107C for two hours of discussion, and the public livestream can still be watched . Here are just some key takeaways.

"We're standing on hallowed ground today," said Ricard Potter Jr., chief diversity officer within Delaware's Department of Human Resources. "And hopefully this conversation will be one that enriches individuals who are in attendance, as well as an opportunity for us to have a call for action."

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The work is not over

This was never an instant solution.

Though the 1954 decision called for an "immediate" stop to segregated schools, the reality would play out much more slowly. And in the very state with two cases fueling arguments, school segregation persisted in some areas until the late '60s. Impact was clear, but progress painfully lagged for many.

And, Tuesday's speakers would argue, it has yet to be entirely achieved.

"Even today, Black students in our state and across the nation continue to face challenges that impact their academic success," said guest Rep. Kendra Johnson, speaking in opening comments. "Issues such as unequal funding, resource gaps and racial discrimination are reminders that the promise of Brown v. Board of Education is yet to be fully realized."

Redding echoed her thoughts as the panel heated up.

"I think the first thing to say is where we are not," said the daughter of Delaware's first Black attorney. "That whatever brown the board did, it did not desegregate America. That right now, straight across the nation, north and south, any of our big cities but also rural areas, are as segregated as they were at the time required."

The state's own Redding Consortium has rooted its recent work in this reality, having been created in 2019 to recommend policies aimed at educational equity in Wilmington and the northern county. Legal and political decisions over decades, members write, have left the city with several racially identifiable, high-poverty schools — plagued with higher rates of crime, housing instability and poverty, alongside educator turnover and persistent underachievement.

Another familiar face on the panel came in Mark Holodick, secretary of the Delaware Department of Education.

"Equality and fairness have changed, and I would say improved, since the Brown decision," Holodick said. "However, opportunities and outcomes for students of color — not so much."

He nodded to this consortium work, exploring how redistricting could be a first step in more systemic reform for Wilmington schools, which he senses an appetite for from the state board. He also called on necessary impact from a very similar body, charged with improving city schools: the Wilmington Learning Collaborative.

But statewide, Delaware is battling low proficiency among students of color, not leading such students to high levels of success in math and reading in particular. His department, Holodick told the panel, is particularly focused on trying to bolster elementary reading levels.

"We need to do something about our literacy rates in Delaware, particularly among students of color," he said, also quoting some counsel from activist Bebe Coker. "Because we all know reading opens the door for everything else."

Justice Seitz, of the Delaware Supreme Court, also noted the ongoing need for diversity in the law — having formed the Delaware Bench and Bar Diversity Project, back on the 67th anniversary of Brown. There's hope changemakers like his father won't be far and in between again.

"We have a huge amount of work and resources going in to education because that is, as we said today, that is the key to a long-term solution to getting greater diversity in the Delaware bar," the justice said.

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Remember Delaware's history

When asked if segregation made him angry as a child, Louis L. Redding said no.

"It was not anger he felt," said Claire DeMatteis, Delaware's secretary of human resources, moderating the panel, "but instead: 'Curiosity.'"

During the more than 50 years that he practiced law in Delaware, Redding handled cases that challenged discrimination in housing, public accommodations, employment and criminal justice. His two Delaware cases that consolidated under Brown v. Board of Education played out on New Castle County soil.

In 1951, the families of Ethel Louise Belton and Shirley Barbara Bulah hired Redding in separate cases, suing the state for refusing to provide transportation to attend the schools closest to their homes. Belton was required to attend Howard High School, a forced 20-mile round trip on public transportation, while living just blocks from all-white Claymont High. Bulah attended Hockessin Colored School #107-C, even though a white school would have been much closer for the 7-year-old.

"The quest to satisfy this curiosity changed the face of Delaware and shaped laws within our nation," DeMatteis said, noting the very decision joining this panel.

Sonny Knott, alongside nearly every speaker, stressed Delaware cannot forget this history. That is, both what these parents went through for their children's education, as well as the stories within the state's Black schools.

He remembers a vibrant community, in a close-knit one-room school with six grades and one teacher. But he also remembers missing pages in school books, given as hand-me-downs if the white schools upgraded.

"I love the opportunity to talk about the 107, and I encourage each and every one of you: Forget about today," the former student said to the crowd. "Think about tomorrow and the next day in our future. Bring your kids here. There's a lot of history here. There's only about five of us left that spent their entire career at the 107."

Knott's stories and many more fill the pages of another panelist's book. Lanette Edwards, author and school historian, published " Hockessin Colored School #107C (Images of America) " just last year.

Hockessin Colored School #107C ceased operations after desegregation. After a rocky road, the school has now been restored and transformed into a Center for Diversity and Social Equity. In 2022, President Joe Biden protected the site, having signed a law incorporating Hockessin Colored School #107 into the National Park System among other additions.

Redding House Museum and Community Center, maintained by its own foundation, is now a historic landmark located near downtown Wilmington. Today's Howard High School of Technology was once the only high school serving Black students in the state and one of the earliest in the nation. Once-Claymont High is now the Claymont Community Center.

"The remarks you quoted from my father are what I would say are hopeful remarks," said Justice Seitz, noting passages from his father, who ruled on the Delaware Gebhart v. Belton case that conditions were unequal, and the only remedy to suffice would be integration.

"And I think he'd recognize the reality that the solutions to race relations in the United States are not going to be found in the courts; as he said, 'They have to be found in the hearts of people.' And I think events like today are so important because they eliminate or reduce complacency."

Got a story? Kelly Powers covers race, culture and equity for Delaware Online/The News Journal and USA TODAY Network Northeast, with a focus on education. Contact her at kepowers@gannett.com or (231) 622-2191, and follow her on X @kpowers01.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Key takeaways as a Delaware panel marks 70th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education