Race, Education, and the Pursuit of Equity in the Twenty-First Century

This introduction to Race, Equity, and Education: 60 Years from Brown offers a reflection on the state of race and education 60 years after the historic Brown versus Board of Education decision (1954). The chapter considers racial barriers and racial progress; it presents a discussion of racial segregation in the United States, of biological and cultural explanations for outcomes that differ among racial-ethnic groups, of demographic changes that schools must adjust to in the twenty-first century, of narrow approaches to school reform, and of efforts to ensure educational equity.