Gloria Ladson-Billings explains in her chapter that, in part, the promise of "Brown v. Board of Education" has not been realized because it was premised on black inferiority. She elaborates that "instead of addressing the underlying pathology of the defendant--White supremacy"--the evidence, case, and accordant ruling "pathologized the plaintiff." Although the premise of black inferiority predates "Brown," 50 years post-"Brown" they are no closer to eradicating this premise from the imagination of the U.S. public. In this response chapter, the author's analysis begins by elucidating how the premise of black inferiority was articulated in the written opinion of "Brown." She then discusses some of the ways this premise haunts contemporary academic and popular discourse on black achievement. She denotes how these academic and public discourses and these teacher perspectives pathologize black people. (Contains 2 notes.)