Brown v. Board Activities Accomplishments-Activities Six

November 19, 2004 "Life Experiences: Outcomes of the Brown v. Board Decision",
was held in the Preston Bradley Hall of the Chicago Cultural Center, 78 East Washington Street, Chicago, IL, and the Claudia Cassidy Theater. Sponsored by the John Marshall Law School , the Chicago Cultural Center, and the Illinois Commission for the 50th Anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education. The program combined a collaborative public exhibition
of various organizations about Brown decision with a panel discussion. The panelists shared their personal life experiences arising from Brown. The Illinois Commission on the 50 th Attorney Gary Fresen

Anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education participated in the
program by helping select panel members, coordinating and hosting several exhibitions spaces at the Cultural Center , and presenting short talks to the Chicago Public Schools students in attendance from
George Swift Specialty School and Paul Revere School. The Commission's exhibition spaces were staffed by Executive
Director Ollie McLemore, Vice-Chair Judge Arnette Hubbard, and
Council of Advisor Attorney Gary Fresen.

The Illinois Commission was aided by the in-kind donation of materials and services from its Council of Advisors member Dr. Warrick Carter, President of Columbia College. Students from the College arranged for the display of enlarged photographs of themes of the Brown v. Board decision. In addition, the students prepared DVD selections from the Commission's May 17, 2004 Re-enactment of Oral Arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court and the Panel Discussion. The photos and DVD's were presented throughout the public exhibition spaces and were viewed by the many visitors. Kevin Hull, Director of the Office of Alumni Relations at John Marshall Law School , was the organizer of the event.

The panel discussion at the Chicago Cultural Center was moderated by ABC-TV news anchor Joel Daly. Panelists included: Jim Tilmon, a retired American Airlines pilot and now television weatherman; Cook County Public Defender Rita Fry; retired professor and Chicago historian Timuel D. Black, Jr.; author Herb Boyd; and John Marshall Professor Linda Crane.

The discussion focused on the Brown decision and how it personally affected the lives of the panel members. The Civil Rights Movement proved to be a blessing for the African-American community, but also left unfinished promises, they proffered.

The “In the Loop” publication of John Marshall Law School reported the event as:

"There were some positives with segregation," said Tilmon, who grew up in Oklahoma . "We had a thriving community with our own businesses, schools, and cultural centers," and that has mostly ended. Tilmon remembers his father, a school principal, and his mother, a teacher, being fired abruptly when Oklahoma decided it would close the black schools. The teachers were fired and "the students were thrown into a social atmosphere they were unfamiliar with (at white schools)."

Boyd had similar memories of forced busing in Detroit . Tilmon said he managed to overcome adversity by avidly pursuing his goal of becoming a pilot. He was one of the first black pilots in the military, and went on to be one of the first black commercial pilots. Even with that success, Tilmon said he continued to encounter segregation. "When I was assigned to O'Hare International Airport, I couldn't buy a home nearby," he remembered.

In some ways, Black said, the black community is "worse off" socially, but he continues to be optimistic, reminding the audience that the legal aspects of the Civil Rights Movement are "just one part" of the changes the country has seen. "After the 1948 Shelly v. Kraemer decision that ended enforcement of restrictive covenants, we started taking ourselves and our culture out to other neighborhoods and our places were taken by Southerners who came up here." Those who could afford to sent their children to private or Catholic schools, but others had to deal with the overcrowded public schools. Although segregation has ended legally, Black wonders if the legal victory has been an effective remedy, since many schools remain segregated and often do not offer students the same educational opportunities as neighboring schools.

Fry, who moved from Memphis with her parents, attended a Catholic school and did not think much about discrimination until she had graduated eighth grade and met a former classmate on a bus. He refused to recognize her after one of his friends uttered a racial epithet. She also remembered how the nuns tried to protect the Black students on a 1964 class trip. They were ordered to split up and sit at separate restaurant tables with the white students as a means of avoiding the legendary "Blacks only" restrictions. "I always wanted to be a lawyer because the law can make a difference," Fry said.

Crane said she stepped forward to take an associate dean's position at John Marshall because of the mentorship of Dean Patricia Mell, the only Black woman currently leading a majority-enrolled law school. "Activism is extremely critical. We tend to have short memories. [The gains] can all be reversed if we're not vigilant."

Boyd and Fry reminded guests that education and housing cannot be viewed as separate issues. "The effect of Brown now is more economic," Fry said. "You have a right to live where you want, but economic segregation needs to be dealt with. Women of color have made great strides. I urge you to be engaged in your home, your community, your country, and your world because you're going to make a difference."

"As a historian, I believe that we shall overcome," Boyd stressed. "There's an African phrase, `The bird faces forward but looks back.' That is true now. We have to recognize what strategies and tactics worked" during the Civil Rights Movement to realize change now.

In conclusion, the audience was impressed and touched by personal memories shared by the panel members about the case that ended legal segregation in the schools, a case that had a social impact more far-reaching and unexpected than most people at the time could have imagined.