The history of education and civil rights in Detroit is briefly reviewed before discussion begins on the implications of the Brown decision. It is a premise of the author that the 1954 Supreme Court decision influenced or directly brought about some major changes in the schools. The issues discussed here were raised during the decade following 1954 and were interpreted by many as being directly related to inequity, descrimination, and race. In a sense, these grew out of frustration and disappointments over the slow implementation of Brown and the failure of schools to provide quality education. The areas covered include equality of educational opportunity, pluralism, testing, accountability, decentralization, affirmative action, and the Court's impact on power in education. (Author/IRT)