People gather to commemorate 70th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) – To commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education case, 40 people gathered at the downtown Youngstown YMCA Friday where speakers discussed the importance of the decision and challenges students still face today.

The keynote speaker was Joann Bland of Selma, Alabama who at age 11 was on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in March of 1965 when state troopers stopped the march to Montgomery. Two years later, Bland was one of eight students who integrated Selma’s 8th grade.

“It was nothing nice, I’ll tell you the truth. It was nothing nice but we survived,” said Bland.

Also in attendance was Youngstown NAACP President James Brown who says that even 70 years after the Brown v. Board decision, there are still certain things separating the kids in schools.

He referred to a poster on display with statistics from Ohio proving what he called “academic segregation.”

The statistics on the poster were academic expectations for Ohio students, which in 2017 were 77 on a scale of 100. But in 2018, the scale was changed dividing white and black students.

In 2023, white student expectations were 85 out of 120 — while black student expectations were 57.

“It’s academic segregation in an integrated school system and that’s against the law. It’s against Brown v. Board,” said Brown.

To correct that, he says, “Basically, make all goals the same for all students — they had that before in Ohio and they went away from that for some reason in order to attain certain things under the Every Student Succeeds Act — but we have to go back to all kids being treated the same.”

Joann Bland also said many states have found ways to channel money from public schools to private schools.

“And I think that’s ridiculous. Every child has the right to have a wonderful education. If the private schools are the standard, that’s what it should be for all schools, public and private,” said Bland.

Bland’s protesting during the civil rights movement landed her in jail at age 8. By age 11, she had been jailed 13 times for her commitment to civil rights.

Mahoning County Prosecutor Gina DeGenova was a sponsor of the event and said she was happy to take part in commemorating the landmark case ending segregation in schools.

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