All Deliberate Speed: Reflections on the First Half-Century of Brown v. Board of Education [Paperback]

Charles J. Ogletree (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 7, 2005

"An effective blend of memoir, history and legal analysis."—Christopher Benson, Washington Post Book World

In what John Hope Franklin calls "an essential work" on race and affirmative action, Charles Ogletree, Jr., tells his personal story of growing up a "Brown baby" against a vivid pageant of historical characters that includes, among others, Thurgood Marshall, Martin Luther King, Jr., Earl Warren, Anita Hill, Alan Bakke, and Clarence Thomas. A measured blend of personal memoir, exacting legal analysis, and brilliant insight, Ogletree's eyewitness account of the legacy of Brown v. Board of Education offers a unique vantage point from which to view five decades of race relations in America. 38 illustrations.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Harvard Law professor Ogletree presents an objective analysis of the progress and limitations of the two Brown decisions: the first ruling that separate but equal, i.e., segregation, was inherently unequal; the second urging desegregation with all deliberate speed. Ogletree follows the legal case history in pursuit of Brown, including its limited successes, its failures, and what appears to be resistance to, if not reversal of, Brown's objective. Born around the time of the landmark decision, Ogletree sees himself as a real beneficiary. He places affirmative action in the context of pursuing the objectives of Brown and analyzes the strategies used by Charles Houston and Thurgood Marshall to challenge southern states to provide equal opportunities for blacks as a platform for outlawing segregation per se. Ogletree follows Marshall's career in the U.S. Supreme Court, his death, and his replacement by the archconservative Clarence Thomas. Thomas' hostility toward affirmative action reflects our nation's failure of commitment to achieve integration at a time when resegregation appears to be the order of the day. Vernon Ford
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

A bold and original analysis...reveals how the great reforms once promised by this landmark decision were systematically undermined. -- Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

A remarkable and very readable account of one young man's coming of age during the civil rights movement....A 'must read.' -- John Hope Franklin, Professor of History Emeritus, Duke University, Author of From Slavery to Freedom

This is a must-read as well as a great read. -- Alan Dershowitz, author of The Case For Israel

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (November 7, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393326861
• ISBN-13: 978-0393326864
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #400,168 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Bearing Witness to the Truth" -- All Deliberate Speed, May 25, 2004

By 

"pnhharris" (Portland, Oregon) - See all my reviews

This review is from: All Deliberate Speed: Reflections on the First Half-Century of Brown V. Board of Education (Hardcover)

All Deliberate Speed bears witness to the truth about our two party education system. This book should be on the required reading list for all students in both high school and college. It is a must read for law students who take, or contemplate taking constitutional law courses or anyone who truly wants to understand the impact of Brown v. Board of Education.

All Deliberate Speed speaks the truth. In some chapters the author gives you hope and in other chapters, the author allows the reader to ponder the future. Reading and understanding this book should help eliminate un-substantiated bias against integration. However, there is no question that the author points out the damage racial segregation, housed and surrounded by inequality, does to our society.

For example, in chapter six, Ogletree clearly exposes the reader to the fact that our government denied African-Americans full citizenship rights through legislation, judicial decisions as well as Jim Crow customs and behaviors.

Was the denial of full citizenship rights (education, accommodations, housing, voting) for African-Americans a grant of "affirmative action" for the white majority? Does the phrase "all deliberate speed" give or take away from the impact or the seriousness of the Brown decisions? Ogletree addresses these question and others in his 'adept' analysis of the decisions in Brown v. Board I and in Brown v. Board II.

Ogletree masterfully points out that a proper education includes, but is not limited to ethnic diversity, safe buildings, good teacher pay, desks, books, parental involvement, technology, etc. A proper education for all supports ones ability to successfully integrate oneself into our society and is germane to our survival as a nation. All Deliberate Speed is an excellent, excellent book. Easy to read, easy to understand, provocative, educational and truthful. Separate but equal is inherently un-equal.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Timely, Informative, Encouraging & Challenging!, May 20, 2004

By 

"bedmonds1" (Washington, DC USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: All Deliberate Speed: Reflections on the First Half-Century of Brown V. Board of Education (Hardcover)

This book is instructive of the history not only of this nation's educational system before during and after the historic Brown decision, but of the struggles African Americans have endured as a race in the face of adversity. The book reflects on the contributions of Charles Hamilton Houston to the strtegy employed by Thurgood Marshall and others.

Professor Ogletree further encourages parents to take alternative steps to ensure children receive quality education in order to contribute to the global society in which we all live. As an African American attorney, I am equally challenged to use the law and reason to advocate for improving the way of life for all Americans.

Thank you

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Thoughtful, Moving Journey, May 15, 2004

By 

"millerej11" (Northampton, MA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: All Deliberate Speed: Reflections on the First Half-Century of Brown V. Board of Education (Hardcover)

Professor Ogletree's book personalizes the history and impact of the Brown v. Board of education decision, expressing its importance through his experiences on the front lines of civil rights activism from the 1970s until the present. Professor Ogletree has been uniquely well placed to write about this subject, witnessing many of the most important moments in our recent history of race relations first hand, and he is himself attempting to write a new chapter in this history as the 21st Century dawn. His critique of Brown, Thurgood Marshall, and Clarence Thomas, as well as his discussion of reparations, gives the forward-looking conclusions of the book special depth and resonance. This book is a must-read for anyone concerned with the past, present, and future of racial activism in the United States.