Kerry, Bush mark 1954 school-rights ruling

TOPEKA, Kansas -- President Bush and his Democratic rival, Senator John F. Kerry of Massachusetts, commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education school desegregation ruling yesterday with separate appearances in the city whose segregated schools gave rise to that landmark case.

Speaking at different venues, but attempting to impress the same voters, neither man mentioned the other by name. Both praised the heroes of the civil rights movement and pointed to education as the key to moving the country toward racial harmony.

At the state capitol, Kerry attacked the No Child Left Behind education plan, which the president alluded to four hours later during his speech at the opening of the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site. The location was once the all-black Monroe Elementary School. Linda Brown, the 9-year-old daughter of the lead plaintiff, the Rev. Oliver Brown, attended that school. The US Supreme Court's unanimous ruling in 1954 in the Brown case outlawed a ''separate but equal" doctrine.

''Our children will never have equal opportunity unless, once and for all, we close the ever-widening gap of achievement," Kerry said. ''We know the answer is both higher educations, higher expectations, and greater resources. It is not a political statement. It is a matter of common sense, and it is a matter of truth to say to America: You cannot promise no child left behind and then pursue policies that leave millions of children behind every single day."

Bush said: ''While our schools are no longer segregated by law, they are still not equal in opportunity and excellence. Justice requires more than a place in school. Justice requires that every school teach every child in America."

The candidates' visits put a rare spotlight on a state many political observers have assumed Bush will win this fall, as he did in 2000. Bush's schedule has taken him almost exclusively to swing states, but yesterday's trip to Kansas, his first as president, was an exception.

The anniversary of the historic court ruling gave Bush and Kerry an opportunity to discuss issues of race, which have been overshadowed by concerns about the war in Iraq, the economy, and health care.

Joined by an array of black leaders, Kerry said equal opportunity in US public schools has not been achieved and that national security depends on a well-prepared and united society. He subtly criticized the president and his allies as opponents of racial progress, while drawing attention to his own service as a Navy lieutenant who learned about diversity by serving during the Vietnam War beside those of different races.

''Whether we are new immigrants to our country or descendants who came over on the Mayflower or were brought here on a slave ship in shackles -- when we fight side by side in places like Vietnam and Iraq and Kosovo and Bosnia and Afghanistan, we are all Americans sacrificing for the same country, praying to the same God," Kerry said.

The senator then borrowed a theme from a vanquished rival for the Democratic presidential nomination.

''Today, more than ever, we need to renew our commitment to 'one America,' " Kerry said, using a phrase that potential running mate, Senator John Edwards of North Carolina, popularized during the primaries. ''We should not delude ourselves into thinking for an instant that because Brown represents the law, we have achieved our goal, that the work of Brown is done, when there are those who still seek in different ways to see it undone: To roll back affirmative action, to restrict equal rights, to undermine the promise of our Constitution."

As Kerry spoke at the foot of the Kansas capitol building, hundreds of minority and white students sat on the steps behind him, most wearing powder blue T-shirts marking the Brown anniversary.

Other speakers used stinging language to decry the relative lack of improvements in public schools since Brown.

''Ladies and gentleman, I am concerned about Osama bin Laden," said Representative Elijah E. Cummings, the Maryland Democrat who is chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus. ''I am concerned about the terrorists. But, ladies and gentlemen, the greatest threat to our national security is our failure to educate our children."

As Kerry left Topeka, a few minutes before Air Force One approached, he joked to reporters on his campaign plane, ''You're not staying for what's his name?"

Others were more than aware that the president was about to land in their state. Air Force One flew over the Brown v. Board historic site, and some in the crowd cheered. Local television news stations carried his landing and his remarks live.

The audience greeted Bush warmly, and, as he did during a trip to Africa last year, he spoke with passion about slavery and its aftermath.

''For millions of African descent, the experience of segregation began in chains and darkness beneath the deck of a ship," he said. ''A terrible civil war ended their slavery, but did not end their oppression. Generations of African-American citizens grew up, and grew old, under laws designed to demean them."

Bush praised the sacrifices of blacks who fought segregation. ''On this day, in this place, we remember with gratitude the good souls who saw a great wrong and stood their ground and won their case," he said. ''And we celebrate a milestone in the history of our glorious nation."