Celebrating Brown vs. the Board of Education - Opening Doors, Opening Minds

The Supreme Court's May 17, 1954, ruling on Brown vs. the Board of Education ended racial segregation in public schools and laid the groundwork for the civil rights movement. The court unanimously ruled that an 1896 "separate but equal" clause was unconstitutional, because it violated the 14th Amendment by separating students based on the color of their skin Terrence Roberts was one of nine students blocked from entering Little Rock's Central High School in September 1957 when Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus joined local whites in resisting integration by dispatching the National Guard. President Dwight Eisenhower responded by sending federal troops to protect the students. Following the closing of Little Rock's schools during the 1958-59 school year, Dr. Roberts completed his senior year at Los Angeles High School in Los Angeles, California. Dr. Roberts graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology from California State University, Los Angeles. He received his Master's degree in social welfare from UCLA and his Ph.D. in psychology from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. He is currently chair of the master's in psychology program at Antioch University in Los Angeles and has a private psychology practice in Pasadena, CA. He is also CEO of the management consulting firm, Terrence J. Roberts & Associates.