Buffalo’s connection to Brown v. Board of Education on the occasion of the 70th anniversary

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) – Friday is the 70th^th anniversary of one of the most important Supreme Court decisions in history. Brown v. School Board declared segregation in public schools as unconstitutional and allowed the integration of these schools.

If you want to celebrate the anniversary, a church in Buffalo is named after two men who played key roles in the final decision.

In the shadow of Larkinville sits Delaine Waring African Methodist Episcopal Church. The Rev. Earl Perrin says a step in his church is a step back in history, when most of society was segregated between races, including schools.

“We couldn’t even go to the same school as a white kid,” Perrin said.

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Reverend Joseph Delaine, a black pastor from Clarendon County, South Carolina, decided to get involved in a lawsuit challenging the status quo: Briggs v. Elliott.

“He thought this school matter needed to be heard,” Perrin said.

They lost the case, not without a scathing criticism from the appeals court judge. Julius Waties Waringwho wrote that segregation was “an evil that must be eradicated.”

“They used that as a catalyst to pit Brown against the Topeka school board,” Perrin said.

Once this decision was made, Delaine and Waring paid the price for their roles. There were murder attempts. When Delaine’s church was burned, he and his family left South Carolina.

“He went to New York state and started a church here in Buffalo, New York,” Perrin said.

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Others from the South followed, including Judge Waring.

“He became very good friends with the Rev. Joseph Delaine because he applauded the fact that he was standing for the right thing,” Perrin said.

A friendship immortalized in the name of Delaine Waring AME Church in Buffalo, a city that was once the last stop on the Underground Railroad and has welcomed immigrants since the days of the Erie Canal.

“This is a place where people have been fighting for years to get the right things,” Perrin said.

A fight that, according to Reverend Perrin, continues, 70 years after the Supreme Court decided that people like Joseph Delaine and Julius Waring were right.

“Now, I’m not saying Buffalo isn’t racist, don’t get me wrong,” Perrin said. “But there are a lot of good people, and we can be misrepresented by racists. So, I’m not going to stand up here and tell you we can’t get better. We can always improve. But we have come a long way, we are better now.

Delaine Waring AME Church is hosting an anniversary celebration of the decision Friday from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Members of the legal community and civil rights experts will speak about the Church’s connection to Brown v. School Board. Joseph Delaine Jr., the 91-year-old son of the Rev. Joseph Delaine, will also speak.

The church is at 680 Swan Street. The event is free and open to the public.

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Scott Patterson is co-anchor of News 4 Wake Up! He joined the News 4 team in 2024. See more of his work here.

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