Pro Bono Reflections – Ep. 7: Desegregation

Despite a host of landmark court rulings and legislation aimed at dismantling institutional racism, "de facto" segregation persists across many neighborhoods, schools, and communities.

In Episode 7: Desegregation, we take a look at two major civil rights wins from the late 20th century. Pro Bono Senior Counsel Joe Hassett and Jack Keeney, General Counsel at the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, describe their success on behalf of the residents of Woodland Village. The federal housing community was built during World War II for Black Navy workers and their families on the banks of the Potomac River in blue-collar southern Maryland. Woodland Village remained segregated from the surrounding, all-white town of Indian Head and, until we intervened, for decades was denied access to water, sewer, and cable.

The pair discuss a second discrimination case during that time – this one much closer to the nation's capital. The firm represented the NAACP in seeking a remedy for the failure of Prince George’s County schools to truly desegregate, as it had been ordered to do in 1972.