>>> nathan at newman.org 05/17/01 06:13PM >>
Now, Brown was so psychologically important that it's hard to argue with it, but putting Brown aside, it's hard to argue that the Court delivered much directly beyond that psychology. Far more important for the movement were the Bill of Rights cases that protected democratic mobilization.
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CB: Yes, on the Court's failure to deliver beyond psychology, they handed out some doubletalk and a real basis for footdragging with the direction to proceed with desegregation with "all deliberate speed" , since "deliberate" implies "go slow", but everybody seems think speed implies go fast. Which is it ?
However, I don't think striking down all the Jim Crow laws was less important for the movement than criminal due process or First Amendment cases. The due process , speech and assembly cases did not keep Hoover and the FBI from annihilating or effectively stopping the Black Panthers and other movement groups by unconstitutional means.