During the decades after Brown v. Board of Education there was terrific progress. Tens of thousands of public schools were integrated racially. During that time the gap between black and white achievement narrowed.

Kozol is pointing to the measurable educational gains that followed the Supreme Court’s 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision, emphasizing that desegregation was not merely symbolic but correlated with improved outcomes. By noting that “tens of thousands” of schools integrated and that the achievement gap narrowed, he frames integration as an effective public policy with demonstrable benefits. The implicit contrast is with later decades in which resegregation, unequal funding, and concentrated poverty undermined those gains. The quote functions as both historical reminder and argument: progress occurred when institutions were compelled to share resources and opportunities more equitably, suggesting that renewed commitment to integration could again reduce disparities.