Foreword: The ‘Constitutional Moment’

Abstract

In 2004, the University of Pretoria sponsored an international education law conference to celebrate the tenth anniversary of multi-racial democracy in South Africa and the fiftieth anniversary of the US Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v Board of Education. For three days, scholars from South Africa, the United States, and Europe discussed equal educational opportunities. The organisers of the Conference correctly recognised that the 1994 South African election and the 1954 American court decision were watershed events for each nation. After Brown and the election of Mandela, each nation reaffirmed the self-evident truth – all are created equal.