Daughter of Brown v. Board Plaintiff Asks NAACP to Drop Call for Charter Ban
by Arianna Prothero
Education Week
September 22, 2016
Cheryl Brown Henderson, the youngest daughter of the named plaintiff in the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case which ended legally-sanctioned school segregation, has signed a letter calling on the National Association for the Advancement of Colored people to reject a moratorium on charter schools proposed by its members.
Two charter school advocacy groups, the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools and the Black Alliance for Educational Options, organized a group of 160 black educators, advocates, lawmakers, and religious leaders—including Henderson—to sign the letter, which was sent to the NAACP Wednesday morning. The national board of the NAACP is expected to decide on whether to approve the resolution in October.
Henderson’s father, Oliver L. Brown, was among the group of black parents in Topeka, Kansas, who became plaintiffs in the NAACP’s lawsuit that ultimately led to the U.S. Supreme Court overturning racial segregation in public schools in 1954.
Earlier this summer, members of the NAACP approved a proposal to call for a moratorium on new charter schools. The members cited concerns over discipline and segregation within charter schools, among many other issues.
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