All Deliberate Speed: Brown v. Board of Education

Professor Charles Ogletree talked about his book, All Deliberate Speed: Reflections on the First Half-Century of Brown v. Board of Education, published by W.W. Norton. On May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the doctrine of “separate but equal” was unconstitutional. Mr. Ogletree examined the personal ramifications of the decision for him and his family: his childhood in the wake of the Brown decision, his student days at Stanford and Harvard Law, his immersion in the Boston busing crisis and its meaning for all Americans. Describing historical personages such as Thurgood Marshall, Martin Luther King Jr., Earl Warren, Anita Hill, and Clarence Thomas, he discussed the ambivalence of the judicial system, the increasing legal challenges to affirmative action and the issue of reparations. The book traced the history of race and integration in American society. close