October 2024
On October 24, Elise Boddie presented the 2024 Annual Brown Lecture in Education Research, “Brown v. Board of Education and the Democratic Ideals,” to an in-person audience of over 650 and a virtual audience of more than 1,775, representing 57 countries. This year’s lecture was the first to be held at Howard University in Washington, D.C. A prominent scholar and champion of dismantling systemic racism, Boddie is James V. Campbell Professor of Law at the University of Michigan Law School.
Boddie’s lecture was immediately followed by a conversation with AERA President Janelle T. Scott (University of California, Berkeley) and an audience Q&A.
AERA Executive Director Felice Levine introduced the lecture, noting the role Howard University played in the Brown ruling, which had its 70th anniversary this year.
“Howard University is one of the top HBCUs in the country, and the Howard School of Law played a pivotal role in shaping the legal strategy and development of the lawyers who led the fight in the cases of Brown v. Board of Education, making it a fitting partner for the Brown Lecture,” said Levine.
Special remarks were made by Dawn Williams, dean of Howard University’s School of Education.
“Brown is often not taught to the fullness of its story and legacy,” said Williams. “I commend AERA, under the leadership of Dr. Felice Levine, for hosting this annual lecture that allows us to expand our knowledge and perspective on this Supreme Court decision, which relied heavily on legal and social science research.”
Janelle Scott then introduced and welcomed Boddie to the stage.
“We are honored for the opportunity to learn from Professor Boddie’s knowledge and wisdom as she explores the role of Brown as a guide for democracy in a time of peril,” said Scott. “Her deep understanding of the challenges facing our nation’s public education system and our democracy at large not only serves as a wake-up call, but also inspires action within our community of scholars, policymakers, and practitioners.”
Boddie began her talk by acknowledging that schools are struggling with book bans, culture wars, and efforts to dismantle and privatize public education.
“We are confronting perhaps one of the gravest challenges to American democracy that we have ever faced, where a candidate for the highest office in the land threatens our system of free and fair elections,” said Boddie. “These are difficult times. So how can we navigate them?”
Boddie used the lecture to focus on stories of people at the center of the Brown v. Board decision who pursued the democratic ideals of equality, justice, and freedom.
“It’s most important to remember that there were people fighting courageously on the ground to secure better educational opportunities for their children,” Boddie said. “And they did so without the protection of law.”
Drawing on lessons from educational pioneers on how we might reimagine freedom, both in education and in American democracy itself, she asked how we should understand Brown’s significance today when public education is under assault.
Pointing out that it has become commonplace to talk about the failures of Brown, Boddie explained that she wanted to show that Brown still holds valuable lessons.
“Democratic values define the educational process itself—to learn to listen carefully and critically to those with different experiences and perspectives,” she said. “Brown teaches us about the importance of proximity and the power of association and having conversations with people you don’t know, people you disagree with.”
Following the lecture, Boddie was joined on stage by Scott.
When asked by Scott about the rejection of race-conscious educational policies and where that leaves those who wish to see Brown’s full potential, Boddie responded, “We have to find a way to create opportunity in this moment, and I think there are ways and there are legal scholars who are working on ways to do that without violating the law.”
“We have to be creative,” said Boddie. “We have to look for alternatives. And there are people who are doing that.”
Following the conversation and audience Q&A, Levine adjourned the program, thanking those who attended in person and on livestream.
“We do this every year. Whether with our legal scholar’s hat or our social scientist’s hat, we continue to collectively move forward,” said Levine. “The fact that evidence and data and research and legal arguments do not always prevail does not mean that we can’t continue to press forward and to better understand how we can work together as Elise emphasized.”
The video recording of the event will be posted to the AERA website in mid-November.