<I>Brown</I> needs more

As an attorney, I am asked about important court cases, including Brown v. Board of Education [Cover story: "On Brown's 50th," April 4, 2004].

No one can measure the monstrous impact of government schools imposing racism and teaching racism as official policy for so long. Government school racism did much more damage than private enterprise could ever have afforded to do. It would have been better if government had stayed out of the schools altogether.

The Brown decision ignores how government schools started the problem that Brown ended. When government began socializing schools in the late 1800's, it expanded government-mandated racism. Brown is another example of government peeing on everyone and then claiming that it was rain.

The Pledge of Allegiance was written (1892) by a bigot who was a self-proclaimed national socialist and advocated that government should operate all schools as a socialist monopoly and end all of the better alternatives. The government forced children to attend segregated schools where they recited the Pledge using its original straight-arm salute.

If the government had taken over all churches, then the same horror would have resulted, with government-mandated racism in government churches. The libertarian solution would have been to end government churches. It is fortunate that the Constitution prevented government churches.

It is unfortunate that the Constitution did not prevent government schools, though they are nowhere authorized. In addition to ending government's racism, Brown should have ended government schools. The separation of school and state is as important as the separation of church and state. It's not too late.

Rex Curry
Tampa, Florida

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