Nearly 57 years after the United States' Supreme Court struck down the segregation of students in public schools on the basis of race in Brown v. Board of Education (1954), the California public school system continues to struggle with ethnic equality. Why?

The facts (according to the New York Times) - the ethnic breakdown of the general California population is Whites 44%; Hispanics 35%, Asians 12% and African Americans 7% (2% other or unknown). Freshman enrollment for the fall of 2006 at the University of California at Berkeley is Whites 29%, Hispanics 11%, Asians 46%, and African Americans 4% (10% other or unknown).

What can we conclude from these numbers? It's simple - equality. The various ethnic groups are not treated the same in our public school systems. I have a problem with Hispanics being under represented by more than a factor of three and African Americans by almost a factor of two. It's even worse at U.C.L.A and U.C. Irvine - just 2% of the student body at each school is African American.

Here's my problem - if our Hispanic and African American students are under represented in the universities, then it is logical to predict they will be under represented in the business and professional world. This portends only one thing - Hispanics and African Americans will continue to struggle to gain economic success in the United States. And that's not what the Surpreme Court intended in the Brown v. Board of Education ruling.

I honestly believe that our country has not tried hard enough to bring about equality for all - whether it's race, gender or ethnicity. We owe it to our fellow citizens to break down all inequality barriers. And I think it starts with education.

Let's get moving Californians! Take action at the grass roots level and get involved with the local schools to make sure all children get a decent education. Gillian and I will discuss how we can make a difference in future posts. We'd like to hear your ideas!

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive