While some aspects of education for blacks improved with desegregation of schools, economic gaps between blacks and whites continue, according to an economist and national commentator.

“Education is at the root of economic success, and the more education you have the more you get paid,” said Julianne Malveaux, reiterating a common belief among Americans.

Yet last month 49 percent of black men in New York City were unemployed, Malveaux said during a speech Tuesday night in Kansas University’s Woodruff Auditorium in the Kansas Union.

Malveaux offered several similar statistics, including the home ownership gap that shows 74 percent of whites own their own homes compared with 47 percent of blacks.

Malveaux was one of a series of speakers who are participating in four days of public forums about the landmark court case Brown v. Board of Education. The case, filed in Topeka and which resulted in the U.S. Supreme Court calling for school desegregation, is 50 years old.

Appearing before a crowd of about 500 people in the Kansas Union auditorium, Malveaux, a syndicated columnist often interviewed on television news networks, talked about “The Economics of Brown v. Board of Education.”

Malveaux also pointed out other economic ramifications stemming from Brown v. Board. Those costs came later, such as sending troops in the 1950s to Little Rock and elsewhere to enforce integration of schools, as well as additional litigation over Brown v. Board.

Malveaux said she was impressed with the audacity of the families and attorneys who sued and believed they could win.

“How much audacity do we have?” Malveaux asked. “How far are we going to push for equality?”

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius had been expected to attend Malveaux’s speech but was unable to attend because of matters pertaining to the Kansas Legislature, KU officials said.

The public forums, billed “The Legacies and Unfinished Business of Brown v. Board,” began Sunday and conclude today.