Comment by Scott B. Arceneaux
[T]he magnitude of the problem may not nullify the principle. And that principle is that we are, all of us, freeborn Americans, with a right to make our way, unfettered by sanctions imposed by man . . . .
Forty years have passed since the Supreme Court ruled that laws mandating the segregation of the races in public schools violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. In doing so, the Court launched a revolution not only in the world of public education, but in society itself. The notion that the separation of the races would be given a legal stamp of approval was forever put to rest. Brown v. Board of Education represented the moral rebirth of the country by ruling that what had been sanctioned in the past would no longer be tolerated in the future, and that a truly color-blind society must be created, at least in the eyes of the law.
At the time of Brown, Louisiana was one of the most racially segregated states in the nation. This segregation was enforced by statute and constitutional mandate. Nowhere was this segregation more apparent than in public education. All institutions of higher learning in Louisiana were segregated by race. This Comment will trace the long road upon which Louisiana has traveled in its effort to achieve desegregation in its colleges and universities. This Comment will look at both the state's de jure segregationist past and recent efforts through litigation to remedy and rule on the present system. After laying this historical basis, this Comment will look at the present state of the law regarding desegregation in higher education and its application to Louisiana's court system. Finally, this Comment will show that the remedies needed to cure the situation lay outside the realm of the court's judicial power.
About the Author
Scott B. Arceneaux.
Citation
69 Tul. L. Rev. 1281 (1995)