Southern school desegregation only advanced when Congress and the executive joined the Court.

Evidence

Figure 10.1 also shows, however, a dramatic shift in attendance patterns in the South in the second decade after Brown. In 1964, only 1.2 percent of black students in the South attended school with whites; by 1973, 91.3 percent did. What accounts for this shift? First, after 1964, Congress and the federal executive branch joined with the Court in promoting school desegregation. Second, the Supreme Court forcefully intervened, clarifying what constituted a violation of Brown and what measures lower courts might impose to remedy violations. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 3006

Categorization

• XREF: Data point behind the standard course account of Brown’s delayed implementation; pairs with the chapter’s treatment of judicial dependency on other branches.