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Weird Little Guys · Thursday · 37 min

Segregation Forever

Last week, the DOJ's Civil Rights division announced they were moving to dismiss more than 50 desegregation cases against school districts all over the country. Like the weird little guys trying to overturn the Brown v Board of Education decision in the 1960s, the Trump administration is trying to take us all back to a version of America they think was great. Sources & Further Reading: Reardon, Sean & Grewal, Elena & Kalogrides, Demetra & Greenberg, Erica. (2012). Brown Fades: The End of Court-Ordered School Desegregation and the Resegregation of American Public Schools. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management. 31. 876-904. 10.2307/41653800. https://selc.wordpress.ncsu.edu/files/2013/03/Brown-Fades.pdf Wang G, White JS, Hamad R. The end of court-ordered desegregation and US children's health: quasi-experimental evidence. American Journal of Epidemiology. 2024 Nov 4;193(11):1530-1540. doi: 10.1093/aje/kwae082 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12096290/ U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. (2007). Becoming less separate? School desegregation, justice department enforcement, and the pursuit of unitary status. Washington, DC https://www.usccr.gov/files/pubs/docs/092707_BecomingLessSeparateReport.pdf https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-ends-over-50-half-century-old-desegregation-cases-throughout-united https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-dismisses-half-century-old-louisiana-consent-decree https://awpc.cattcenter.iastate.edu/communication/speech-march-washington-aug-28-1963 https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/freedom-black-women-speak-march-washington-jobs-and-freedom https://calendar.eji.org/racial-injustice/jun/18 https://www.k-12legalinsights.com/2026/03/some-recent-motions-for-unitary-status-seem-to-be-facing-less-careful-scrutiny/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/doj-seeking-to-end-school-desegregation-cases/ https://www.naacpldf.org/case-issue/why-are-schools-still-segregated/ https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/24/us/politics/justice-department-desegregation-cases.html https://www.ed.gov/grants-and-programs/grants-birth-grade-12/school-and-community-improvement-grants/training-and-advisory-services-equity-assistance-centers https://www.regulations.gov/document/ED-2026-OESE-0958-0001 https://www.justice.gov/crt https://web.archive.org/web/20240301102317/https://www.justice.gov/crt https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/ex-employees-us-justice-department-blast-destruction-civil-rights-unit-2025-12-09/ https://redlinecivilrights.org/education/ https://www.jurist.org/news/2026/07/us-federal-court-ends-decades-long-school-desegregation-lawsuit-in-louisiana/ https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/6105774/smith-v-concordia-parish/ https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/14791822/boudreaux-v-st-mary-parish/ https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/5295676/thomas-v-st-martin-parish/ https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72066767/navy-v-sch-bd-of-st-mary-prsh/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

0:00-37:36

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show notes

Last week, the DOJ's Civil Rights division announced they were moving to dismiss more than 50 desegregation cases against school districts all over the country. Like the weird little guys trying to overturn the Brown v Board of Education decision in the 1960s, the Trump administration is trying to take us all back to a version of America they think was great.

Sources & Further Reading:

Reardon, Sean & Grewal, Elena & Kalogrides, Demetra & Greenberg, Erica. (2012). Brown Fades: The End of Court-Ordered School Desegregation and the Resegregation of American Public Schools. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management. 31. 876-904. 10.2307/41653800.
https://selc.wordpress.ncsu.edu/files/2013/03/Brown-Fades.pdf

Wang G, White JS, Hamad R. The end of court-ordered desegregation and US children's health: quasi-experimental evidence. American Journal of Epidemiology. 2024 Nov 4;193(11):1530-1540. doi: 10.1093/aje/kwae082
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12096290/

U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. (2007). Becoming less separate? School desegregation,
justice department enforcement, and the pursuit of unitary status. Washington, DC
https://www.usccr.gov/files/pubs/docs/092707_BecomingLessSeparateReport.pdf

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-ends-over-50-half-century-old-desegregation-cases-throughout-united

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-dismisses-half-century-old-louisiana-consent-decree

https://awpc.cattcenter.iastate.edu/communication/speech-march-washington-aug-28-1963

https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/freedom-black-women-speak-march-washington-jobs-and-freedom

https://calendar.eji.org/racial-injustice/jun/18

https://www.k-12legalinsights.com/2026/03/some-recent-motions-for-unitary-status-seem-to-be-facing-less-careful-scrutiny/

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/doj-seeking-to-end-school-desegregation-cases/

https://www.naacpldf.org/case-issue/why-are-schools-still-segregated/

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/24/us/politics/justice-department-desegregation-cases.html

https://www.ed.gov/grants-and-programs/grants-birth-grade-12/school-and-community-improvement-grants/training-and-advisory-services-equity-assistance-centers

https://www.regulations.gov/document/ED-2026-OESE-0958-0001

https://www.justice.gov/crt
https://web.archive.org/web/20240301102317/https://www.justice.gov/crt

https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/ex-employees-us-justice-department-blast-destruction-civil-rights-unit-2025-12-09/

https://redlinecivilrights.org/education/

https://www.jurist.org/news/2026/07/us-federal-court-ends-decades-long-school-desegregation-lawsuit-in-louisiana/

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/6105774/smith-v-concordia-parish/

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/14791822/boudreaux-v-st-mary-parish/

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/5295676/thomas-v-st-martin-parish/

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72066767/navy-v-sch-bd-of-st-mary-prsh/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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