Picture of Michelle Obama offers reminder of discriminatory past

The striking image was taken when FLOTUS visited the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site in Topeka, Kansas, on the eve of the anniversary on May 16.The picture was taken by White House photographer Chuck Kennedy and posted to the White House Flickr feed this week.Also pictured is Stephanie Kyriazis, the site’s chief of interpretation and education who provided the first lady with a guided tour of the facility formerly known as Monroe Elementary School.The Supreme Court unanimously voted 9–0 against state-sponsored segregation on May 17 1954 and stated that 'separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.' The decision overturned the Plessy v Ferguson decision of 1896, but it took decades for education authorities throughout the U.S. to honor the judgment.The photograph has added poignancy because when the first lady - then simply Michelle Robinson - was 11 years old in Chicago in 1975 she was one of the first to attend the city’s first racially integrated school for high achievers, reports the New York Times.After she toured the historic site in May, Mrs. Obama delivered a speech to the graduating classes of Topeka's high schools.'I believe that all of you - our soon-to-be-graduates - you all are the living, breathing legacy of this case,' she said. 'Not only are you beautiful and handsome and talented and smart, but you represent all colors and cultures and faiths here tonight. You come from all walks of life, and you’ve taken so many different paths to reach this moment. 'Maybe your ancestors have been here in Kansas for centuries. Or maybe, like mine, they came to this country in chains.'That’s why we’re celebrating here tonight,' she continued, 'because the fact is that your experience here in Topeka would have been unimaginable back in 1954, when Brown v. Board of Education first went to the Supreme Court. This would not be possible.'(dailymail.co.uk)Bakudaily.az