Page 35 - ACTL Journal Win24

Unwilling to allow the harm created by segregated fa- cilities to continue even a day longer, as he did in Park- er, Chancellor Seitz refused to permit time to remedy the massive disparities. Instead, he ordered the imme- diate admission of Black students to the white schools.
believed that segregation was per se unconstitutional.” De- spite finding “psychological harm suffered by Black chil- dren as a consequence of segregated schools,” Chancellor Seitz explained that he “decided that [he] was not free to” find segregation unconstitutional “in light of certain Su- preme Court precedent,” as “the declaration of invalidity should come from the United States Supreme Court.”
But Chancellor Seitz undertook the same analysis that formed the basis for his decision in Parker: After visiting the schools at issue, Chancellor Seitz concluded that sep- arate facilities were, in fact, unequal in all respects. White schools had nicer, more spacious facilities. Bathrooms and classrooms in schools for white students were far superi- or. Black students never received new books. Their used books had “four or five names [of the previous students] in” them and were missing numerous pages; as a result, students would often have to borrow classmates’ books in order to cobble together a complete reading of the text.
And the schools for white students had many facilities that did not even exist in schools for Black students, such as auditoriums, nurses’ offices, and recreational facilities.
When he issued his decisions in Belton and Bulah, Chan- cellor Seitz was not yet forty years old and had only been out of law school for eleven years—four years less than the minimum tenure necessary to be considered for Fellow- ship in the College.
The Supreme Court of Delaware affirmed Belton and Bulah, which were consolidated as part of Brown v. Board of Education. Chancellor Seitz’s opinions in Belton and Bu- lah were the only decisions affirmed by the United States Supreme Court in its historic opinion in Brown.
Beyond simply affirming Chancellor Seitz’s opinion, the United States Supreme Court’s opinion in Brown expressly relied upon it. In the portion of the decision discussing the adverse effects that segregation has on the develop- ment of Black children, the Supreme Court quoted Chan- cellor Seitz’s finding that “[s]tate-imposed segregation in education itself results in [Black] children, as a class, re- ceiving educational opportunities which are substantial- ly inferior to those available to white children otherwise similarly situated.”
In recognition of the role that these cases played in end- ing desegregation, President Biden designated the school for Black students at issue in Bulah as a historic Brown v. Board of Education site. Today, that school serves as a center for diversity, inclusion and equity.
Chief Justice Seitz closed with an important observa- tion from Chancellor Seitz on improving race relations: “[D]espite the most legitimate grievances, long range solutions in race relations must
ultimately be found in the hearts of people rather than the courts. But this is cold com- fort to those experiencing injustice. Nev- ertheless, good will and relentless striving towards racial justice in our society remains vitally important charges on all of us if our deeds are to match our words.”
David E. Ross Wilmington, DE
WINTER 2024 JOURNAL 34