CBA Record July-August 2021

Motive in the Brown Decision In Brown v. US , 347 US 483 (1954), the Supreme Court held that racial segregation was unconstitutional because it harmed Blacks emotionally. Brown relied on a now famous doll experiment conducted by a Black psychologist—Dr. Kenneth B. Clark. In that experiment, he asked children in the segregated South which doll they preferred to play with—a Black doll or a White doll. Most of the White children chose a white doll. Most of the Black children also chose a white doll.The Brown Court used the doll experiment to support their holding. But the Brown Court was being less than candid in its arguments. J.P. Morgan noted that a man always has two reasons for doing any- thing: a good reason, and the real reason. And so it was with Brown . The Brown Court, some scholars argue, weren’t concerned with Black mental health, but rather with America’s moral standing in the world generally, and with winning the Cold War with Russia spe- cifically. Starting in the 1940s, African nations were on fire rebelling against their European colonizers. America and Russia were both trying to woo African nations to their respective side. Russia and China used America’s racism to make a compel- ling argument to Black Africans: Look how America treats its own Negroes. If this is how they treat their own Negroes, then how do you think America will treat you? This, say some scholars, is the real reason that the Brown Court delivered a unani- mous decision striking down segregated schools. Some scholars argue that even the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 wouldn’t have been passed if America had not been in a Cold War with Russia. Why is America’s motive for passing civil rights legislation important? Because understanding the motive for America’s past actions helps us to better understand America’s present actions and inactions. It explains, for example, why the nation ignored the recommendations of the 1968 Kerner Commission Report on the state of racism and what needed to be done. To the extent that America has gotten better for Blacks, it isn’t because America has come a long way, it’s because America was dragged

a long way, kicking and screaming. We should let our past experience set our expectations of future performance. As Oprah Winfrey is fond of saying, when people show you who they are, believe them. Blacks have been here for 400 years, and we’ve been talking about racism since we got here. Does anyone really believe that we will solve our racial problems by having Congress produce a study on reparations? We still haven’t followed the bi-partisan Kerner Commission recommendations from over 50 years ago. Why would we expect anything worthwhile to come from a congressional study? How can a Congress that has to answer to mostly racist voters be expected to fairly consider reparations for Blacks? This is what Dr. King would call the paralysis of analysis—using discussion as a mere stall tactic. If America is serious about doing right by Black people, then why don’t we submit the issue of Black reparations to third par- ties? Let a three-member panel study the issue of reparations for Blacks and offer its recommendations. The panel can have one member designated by the president of Ethiopia, one member designated by the president of Iceland, and one member from the National Council of American Indians. Ethiopia is the only Black African nation that was not physically conquered by a White nation. Iceland is a White nation with no direct history of enslaving Blacks. America should post a bond (in an amount to be determined by the panel) with the Swiss National Bank. If America doesn’t follow the recommendations of the panel, then the bond will be forfeited and paid to the government of Ghana. Ghana is the first African nation to offer Blacks in the diaspora the right to emigrate to Ghana from anywhere in the world. Ghana is also the African nation with the largest number of preserved old slave forts, the most stable Black African democracy, and the fastest growing economy in Africa. With that money Ghana can invest into various programs and incentives to assist Blacks in America who want to immigrate there. Let’s revisit the doll experiment. I had the privilege of meeting Dr. Kenneth Clark while I attended the City College of New York, in Harlem. Dr. Clark was a profes-

sor there. He told our class that after the Brown case, he conducted the same doll experiment in northern states where there was no legal segregation. To his astonish- ment, he found that Black children in northern cities showed an even higher rate of preference forWhite dolls than southern children did. After further study, he con- cluded that de facto segregation was worse for the Black psyche than de jure segrega- tion because de facto segregation was racism plus gaslighting. The combined effect of being discriminated against while being told by the discriminator that you’re being treated fairly caused more mental anguish in Blacks than prominently displayed signs telling Blacks we’re unwanted. If America won’t agree to submit the issue of Black reparations to an indepen- dent process, then she’s still not serious about considering reparations for Blacks. We’ve been waiting for our 40 acres and a mule for over a hundred years. During that wait, we’ve endured lynchings, economic exploitation, segregation, voter suppression, mass incarceration, income inequality, and a criminal justice system that’s stacked against us. Sounds like a lot of interest is owed on those 40 acres and mule. If America doesn’t want to pay up, we can’t compel her to. But we don’t have to partici- pate in the political theater that makes it appear as though change is coming. Let’s at least be honest, and acknowledge that Dr. King was right when he wrote that regard- ing racism in America, “White America is not even psychologically organized to close the gap—essentially it seeks only to make it less painful and less obvious but in most respects to retain it” ( Where Do We Go FromHere ). If America is serious about justice, then let’s get serious. If not, then at least, please don’t gaslight us…again.

Patrick Dankwa John, of the Law Office of Patrick Dankwa John, P.C., is the 2020-21 president of the Deca- logue Society of Law- yers and a 2021 recipi- ent of the CBA’s Earl B.

Dickerson Award.

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