Linda Brown, figure centrale de la lutte contre la ségrégation, meurt à 75 ans

Je raconte l'histoire de cette femme depuis mes débuts en enseignement et j'explique encore régulièrement le jugement de la Cour suprême dans une cause la concernant. La décision du plus haut tribunal dans la cause "Brown v. Board of Education" (Topeka, Kansas) en 1954 est un jalon important de la lutte des Noirs pour mettre fin à la ségrégation raciale en vigueur dans le sud des États-Unis. La Cour suprême avait pourtant reconnu en 1896 la constitutionnalité du principe "séparés mais égaux" dans les services offerts aux communauté blanche et noire. C'est le père de Linda Brown qui souhaitait inscrire sa fille dans une école jusque là réservée aux seuls Blancs.

 "The school told her father no, she could not be enrolled.

“I could tell something was wrong, and he came out and took me by the hand and we walked back home,” she said. “We walked even more briskly, and I could feel the tension being transferred from his hand to mine.”

In its ruling, the Supreme Court threw out the prevailing “separate but equal” doctrine, which had allowed racial segregation in the schools as long as students of all races were afforded equal facilities.

“To separate them from others of similar age and qualifications solely because of their race,” the court said, “generates a feeling of inferiority as to their status in the community that may affect their hearts and minds in a way unlikely to ever be undone.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/26/obituaries/linda-brown-symbol-of-landmark-desegregation-case-dies.html