As we commemorate the Fourth of July with festivities
across the nation, many of us will not be celebrating because
of the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that has turned back
the hands of time, driving us back to this country's horrific
era of legalized segregation.
In a 5-to-4 vote, a slim majority of justices
ruled to limit the use of race in order to maintain or achieve
school diversity.
While most Americans are fatigued by how race has been used to
either pummel a society for not using it enough or picketing
against a society for its overuse, this recent decision will
have repercussions that will affect not only students of color,
but also female as well as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender
and queer students.
Why?
Because 53 years ago on May 17, 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court
in Brown v. Board of Education overturned the “separate but equal” doctrine adopted
in Plessy v. Ferguson. The Plessy decision set the precedent that “separate” facilities
for African Americans and whites were constitutional as long as they were “equal.” However,
the “separate but equal” doctrine metastasized to not only invade
our nation's public schools, but also our restrooms, water fountains, theaters,
and restaurants. Brown v. Board of Education struck down the “separate
but equal” doctrine because it violated not only the 14th Amendment,
but also this country's hope of being a united people operating in the context
of a multicultural democracy.
On May 17, 2004, the 50th
anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, Massachusetts began
issuing marriage
licenses to same-sex couples
as a result of the state's Supreme Judicial Court ruling in the
Goodridge case. The state understood that granting us civil unions
upheld “separate and unequal” access to the full
and equal privileges and protections of marriage.
But the recent U. S. Supreme
Court decision brings us back to “separate
and unequal,” and will have deleterious effects on all
the hard gains won by educators and activists to make public
schools safe for all our children.
For example, will the court in the future rule against the existence
of the Harvey Milk High School in New York City? A high school
designed to afford a safe and supportive educational environment
for our LGBTQ children that has a 95 percent graduation rate,
Harvey Milk High School is a sound solution to the virulently
homophobic environments pervasive in New York City's public high
schools.
Will the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN)
- a national organization that works indefatigably to put an
end to discrimination, harassment, and bullying based on a student's
sexual orientation and gender identity - be considered a discriminatory
organization?
Well, according to the right-wing
Culture and Family Institute, an affiliate of Concerned Women
of America,
it is. In fact, the
group published in its newsletter that at the 2000 GLSEN conference, “Children
were verbally instructed in how to engage in dangerous homosexual
perversion like fisting.”
Will our Supreme Court justices with this new decision understand
that homophobia and heterosexism thwart a healthy school environment
for learning, developing a positive sense of self, and a tolerance
for others - not only for LGBTQ students, but all students.
I have learned, however, as an educator that not all parents
and educators want to be part of creating a safe and welcoming
world for our children. Outside of the home environment, schools
must be the next place. And gay/straight alliances create such
a place for our kids by reducing isolation, invisibility and
homophobic violence and harassment. But will we begin to see
the disbanding of GSAs in both public and private school settings?
The court's decision will also be felt on university and college
campuses. For some time now, right-wing conservatives have been
advancing their agenda in higher education to reshape the academic
landscape of colleges and universities from a democratizing force
in our society to a conservative movement.
Will the court decide to do away with women colleges like the
one I graduated from- Wellesley?
And with the college conservative movement's belief that the
crisis is due to the erosion of a traditional education and to
giving unmerited advantage to underrepresented groups, their
presence has become more visible and forceful with ligations.
Case in point: The movement
has succeeded at de-funding several gay and women’s organizations,
stating that student fees should not be used to support groups
with which students ideologically
and theologically disagree.
So as we celebrate this Fourth of July, we as American citizens
should realize what our schools and colleges would be like if
every student were valued and respected, if every student were
allowed to achieve his or her dignity as a human person.
When such a school atmosphere exits, we educators will have
developed a safe environment and multicultural curriculum that
includes the history, culture and experiences of all people.
And in so doing, we make all of our children - black and white,
straight and queer - better doctors, better lawyers, better teachers,
and better neighbors. We will have created better people, a greater
nation, and a finer world.
BC columnist, the Rev. Irene Monroe is
a religion columnist, public theologian, and speaker. She is
a Ford Fellow and doctoral candidate at Harvard Divinity School.
As an African American feminist theologian, she speaks for
a sector of society that is frequently invisible. Her website
is www.irenemonroe.com. Click
here to contact the Rev. Monroe. |