During the 1950s, the United States was on the brink of eruption. Not literally, of course, but in a sense yes. Though it had been about a century after slavery was abolished, African Americans in the United States were still being treated as second-class citizens. Separate but equal, as outlined in the landmark case Plessy versus Ferguson of 1896, became a standard doctrine in the United States law. This was a defeat for many blacks because not only were the facilities were clearly unequal, but it restored white supremacy in the South. It would be years before any sense of hope would come from another prominent landmark case victory. In the case of Plessy versus Ferguson, members of the Supreme Court believed this decision for “separate but equal” facilities did not violate any laws. For example, Justice B. Brown, known for writing the majority opinion on the case, writes the ruling “neither abridges the privileges or immunities of the colored man, deprives him of his property without due process of law, nor denies him the equal protection of the laws, within the meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment”. He goes on to write that the separation does not stamp “the colored race with a badge of inferiority.” Brown versus the Board of Education in Topeka, Kansas was perhaps the most renowned cases of its time. The thirteen plaintiffs on behalf on their children filed a class action lawsuit against the district in order for it to reverse its policy of racial segregation. One named plaintiff, Oliver L. Brown, an admired African American member of his community, complained that his young daughter had to walk six blocks to the bus stop to attend her all black school, while the white school was closer. After the victory, The Board of Edu... ... middle of paper ... ... reversed. In the document it said, “The original Constitution does not mention education. Neither does the 14th Amendment nor any other amendment. The debates preceding the submission of the 14th Amendment clearly show that there was no intent that it should affect the system of education maintained by the States.” This is an outlandish argument because when the Fourteenth Amendment was ratified, schooling was not popular. In fact, it would be many years after 1868 when it was mandatory to attend school. Therefore, the Fourteenth Amendment did not include schools as part of its Equal Protection Clause. African Americans in the United States were wounded. After decades of mistreatment, it was time to fight back. The ruling of the Brown versus The Board of Education, marked the birth of the Civil Rights Movement. It would be years, before any progress would ensue.
The case of brown v. board of education was one of the biggest turning points for African Americans to becoming accepted into white society at the time. Brown vs. Board of education to this day remains one of, if not the most important cases that African Americans have brought to the surface for the better of the United States. Brown v. Board of Education was not simply about children and education (Silent Covenants pg 11); it was about being equal in a society that claims African Americans were treated equal, when in fact they were definitely not. This case was the starting point for many Americans to realize that separate but equal did not work. The separate but equal label did not make sense either, the circumstances were clearly not separate but equal. Brown v. Board of Education brought this out, this case was the reason that blacks and whites no longer have separate restrooms and water fountains, this was the case that truly destroyed the saying separate but equal, Brown vs. Board of education truly made everyone equal.
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas was a milestone in American history, as it began the long process of racial integration, starting with schools. Segregated schools were not equal in quality, so African-American families spearheaded the fight for equality. Brown v. Board stated that public schools must integrate. This court decision created enormous controversy throughout the United States. Without this case, the United States may still be segregated today.
African Americans are still facing segregation today that was thought to have ended many years ago. Brown v. Board of Education declared the decision of having separate schools for black and white students to be unconstitutional. As Brown v. Board of Education launches its case, we see how it sets the infrastructure to end racial segregation in all public spaces. Today, Brown v. Board of Education has made changes to our educational system and democracy, but hasn’t succeeded to end racial segregation due to the cases still being seen today. Brown v. Board of Education to this day remains one of the most important cases that African Americans have brought to the surface for the good of the United States. Brown v. Board of Education didn’t just focus on children and education, it also focused on how important equality is even when society claimed that African Americans were treated equal, when they weren’t. This was the case that opened the eyes of many American’s to notice that the separate but equal strategy was in fact unlawful.
The Civil Rights Movement had a timeline of events from the 1940’s with events that are still occurring today. During the 1960’s, the Civil Rights of black people in America improved greatly. The first even from the 60’s was on February 1, 1960, when four black students were at Woolworth’s lunch counter and was denied service. Because of this these four men began a non-violent protest or sit-in, this display created a chain reaction and many more non-violent protests throughout the south. Six months later, however, these four men were eating at the same lunch counter they were originally refused service at. In April of the same year the SNCC or student non-violent coordinating committee was formed, which gave the young black people a place in the Civil Rights movement. The following year on May 4, 1961, student volunteers were testing the new segregation laws buy riding the buses and trains, they were known as “freedom riders”. During this time the freedom riders were attacked by angry mobs along the way, this led to CORE, or Congress of Racial Equality. In 1962, the first black student enrolled at the University of Mississippi, James Meredith, this caused such violence and riots President Kennedy sent in 5,000 federal troops to handle the situation. In 1963, August 28th, approximately 200,000 people joined together in Washington where they heard Martin Luther King’s famous “I had a Dream” speech. On Septembe...
States ratified Jim Crow laws to legally segregate whites from blacks and they created separate schools, facilities, parks, and other separated places. When Plessy was arrested, he petitioned the Louisiana Supreme Court against Ferguson in order “to stop the proceedings against him for criminal violation of the state law.” (Handout) Yet again, the Louisiana Supreme Court refused and he went to the Supreme Court of the United States. The arguments in this case involve the 13th Amendment, which took away slavery and the Equal Protection clause of the 14 Amendment, which “prohibits states from denying any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” When this went to the Supreme Court of the United States, Plessy was brought to court against Judge John H. Ferguson. (http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/equal_protection) Was a state law requiring separate accommodations a violation of equal protection? Should the St...
On May 17, 1954, the Court unanimously declared that segregation in public education can permanently impact the minority children by fostering their feelings of inferiority and impeding their learning; therefore, school segregation denies minority children equal protection under the laws guaranteed by the 14th Amendment. This decision rejected the language in Plessy v. Ferguson for public education and restored the cases for further argument.
On May 17, 1954, the United States Supreme Court face with the most difficult ruling in the landmark case of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. It unanimously held that the racial segregation of children in public schools violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and it over turns Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) decision of separate but equal because White public schools and Black public schools were not equal. The lawsuit was filed by a woman name Oliver Brown, who children was denied access to the Topeka’s White schools. She sued the school board because the city of Topeka violated the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause because the Topeka’s black and white schools were not equal to each other in terms of education
The case is known as Brown vs Board of Education and it took place in May, 1954. It was centered around a young girl, Linda Brown, and her family. Biography.com’s entry on Linda Brown states that, “Linda Brown… and her two younger sisters grew up in an ethnically diverse neighborhood. Linda was forced to walk across railroad tracks and take a bus to grade school despite there being a school four blocks away from her home. This was due to the elementary schools in Topeka being racially segregated, with separate facilities for black and white children” (Biography). The article goes on to explain that the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People asked Linda’s father, Oliver Brown, as well as a few other African American parents, to attempt to enroll their children in whites only schools. The Brown family attempted this without success and brought the case to the United States Supreme Court (Biography). Oliver Brown’s reason for challenging school segregation was both simple and logical. Linda’s daily trips to the African American school was dangerous for a child her age, as well as clearly unnecessary given there was a school closer to her home. Opposition to Brown vs Board of Education argued that, as with all separate but equal rulings, the segregated schools still gave equal opportunity to black and white students. This idea is false because similar to Louisiana's Separate Car Act, segregation of schools almost always meant the whites-only school had better funding and education than the African American school, giving white children an unfair advantage. The efforts of the Brown family and the other families involved in similar cases paid off, and the Supreme Court ended Brown vs. Board of Education by ruling school segregation unlawful
The legal segregation in public facilities began with Plessy v. Ferguson court case. This case established “Separate but equal” doctrine. The supreme court stated that racial segregation did not conflict with 14th amendment. It was true that separation occurred in many public places, but the states did not give the equal facilities for
It was at this time that the Court ordered the parties to answer a series of questions about the specific intent of the Congressmen and Senators who framed the Fourteenth Amendment and about the Court’s power to dismantle segregation. The Court realizing that they were deeply divided over the issues raised and unable to come to a solution by June 1953, which was the end of the Court’s 1952-1953 term, decided to rehear the case in December 1953. It was this second hearing Marshall emphasized that segregation was rooted in the desire to keep “the people who were formerly in slavery as near to that stage as possible.” Gov. Earl Warren of California, who replaced Justice Fred Vinson when he died, was able to bring all of the Justices to agree to support a unanimous decision declaring segregation in public schools
In the 1940s, African Americans were facing the problem of discrimination. They fought to receive the rights that all Americans were given through the United States Constitution. They were being treated unfairly in society. Their education, jobs, transportation, and more were inferior to a white citizen’s. With the end of slavery and the creation of the Fourteenth Amendment, African Americans were theoretically given their freedom like every other American. The way they were treated denied them these rights that they thought they would obtain. Through the efforts of white bigots and the biased government, African Americans were segregated from the free lives of the white civilian. Prior to the Civil Rights Movement, African Americans faced discrimination
The request for an injunction pushed the court to make a difficult decision. On one hand, the judges agreed with the Browns; saying that: “Segregation of white and colored children in public schools has a detrimental effect upon the colored children...A sense of inferiority affects the motivation of a child to learn” (The National Center For Public Research). On the other hand, the precedent of Plessy v. Ferguson allowed separate but equal school systems for blacks and whites, and no Supreme Court ruling had overturned Plessy yet. Be...
Unequal opportunity in education goes back over fifty years in regards to race and unequal rights for blacks or minorities to attend schools that whites attended. Although the law stated that blacks and minorities could attend school to receive an equal education it was a concern that blacks could not be present in the same school as whites. This led to blacks not receiving equal education as whites which made it difficult for blacks to succeed. This was when the Brown vs. Board of Education case became very prominent. This case was initiated by Brown to bring about equality of education regardless of racial or ethnic groups. Brown believed that race should not be a factor in education and integration of all racial groups would bring about the opportunity of equal education through equal rights. The U. S Supreme Court ruled that segregated educational ...
In 1896 the government passed a law that legally allowed racial discrimination. Under the landmark court case name of “Plessy vs Ferguson”, this ruled that this sort of discrimination did not violate the 14th amendment of the Constitution, as long as the facilities were equal. However, these facilities were not equal in anyway. So the African America...
The next big step in the civil rights movement came in 1954, with the BROWN vs. BOARD OF EDUCATION OF TOPEKA case, where Thurgood Marshall, representing Brown, argued that segregation was against the 4th Amendment of the American constitution. The Supreme Court ruled, against President Eisenhower’s wishes, in favour of Brown, which set a precedent in education, that schools should no longer be segregated. This was the case which completely overturned the Jim Crow Laws by overturning Plessy vs. Ferguson.