WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) – Top Washington officials are marking the 70th anniversary of the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision this week. 

It outlawed segregation of public schools across the country.

The U.S. Department of Justice commemorated the historic case with a ceremony at its headquarters Tuesday. 

“I was just a six-year-old girl going to school,” Gail Etienne told the crowd as she wiped away tears.

Etienne can still feel the hate she endured on her first day at an all-white school in Louisiana.

“It looked like if they could get to me, they would kill me, and I didn’t know why,” she said. 

Etienne is a member of the New Orleans Four. 70 years ago, the Brown v. Board of Education decision paved the way for Black students to integrate schools.

“We must have sat there half the day before they even decided to place us in a classroom,” fellow New Orleans Four member, Leona Tate, told the crowd.

DOJ officials said segregation still exists.

“We need a level playing field that gives every kid a fair chance,” said Kristen Clarke, the assistant attorney general of the Civil Rights Division. 

Clarke told the crowd examples of segregation include unequal access to higher-level courses and disciplinary actions against students.

“There’s still so much work that we need to do to protect our kids,” she said.

The Government Accountability Office reports more than 18 million students still attend a segregated school today.

To fight back, Clarke said the DOJ sues schools to reach settlements.

“We can’t take progress for granted,” said U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona.

Cardona told the crowd his department is also fighting back against curriculum changes and book bans in some states.

“We all know that Black history is American history,” he said. 

These officials argue equal access to education ultimately means equal access to other opportunities like jobs and housing.

President Joe Biden will welcome the plaintiffs from the case and their families to the Oval Office Thursday ahead of a speech on Friday, which is the official anniversary of the ruling.