Brown V Board Of Education Essay

735 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Civics Supreme Court Cases

Paving the Way to Civil Rights
Brown v. Board of Education was historically significant Supreme Court decision that set to motion many more people to speak up against racial inequality. These incidents combined led the way to the Civil Rights Movement.
Linda Brown was a black elementary school child who was denied access to attending a school in a predominately white neighborhood. She had to walk across railroad tracks and ride a bus to a school designated only for black children, yet there was a public school for white children only four blocks away from her home. “In 1950, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People asked a group of African-American parents that included Oliver Brown to attempt to enroll their children in all-white schools, with the expectation that they would be turned away.” (The Biography.com website) This was done in order to file a lawsuit on behalf of 13 families. Because Linda Brown’s last name fell first on the list of families, due to its placement in the alphabet, the …show more content…

Ferguson. Plessy v. Ferguson divided races by using separate but equal facilities. This often meant black people had different schools, different drinking fountains, and different facilities than white people. Plessy v. Ferguson made black people feel inferior. Oliver Brown joined with other plaintiffs to go to the Supreme Court with the goal of taking down the seemingly antiquated decision that had been the law since 1896. Serving as chief attorney for the plaintiffs was Thurgood Marshall, who at the time was head of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. Later in 1954, the goal of the 13 families was achieved when finally, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled against segregation. “We conclude that in the field of public education the doctrine of 'separate but equal' has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal. . ." (U.S. Supreme Court Justice Earl

Show More
Related

  • Brown V. Board Of Education

    1492 Words  | 3 Pages

    The case started with a third-grader named Linda Brown. She was a black girl who lived just seen blocks away from an elementary school for white children. Despite living so close to that particular school, Linda had to walk more than a mile, and through a dangerous railroad switchyard, to get to the black elementary school in which she was enrolled. Oliver Brown, Linda's father tried to get Linda switched to the white school, but the principal of that school refuse to enroll her. After being told that his daughter could not attend the school that was closer to their home and that would be safer for Linda to get to and from, Mr. Brown went to the NAACP for help, and as it turned out, the NAACP had been looking for a case with strong enough merits that it could challenge the issue of segregation in pubic schools. The NAACP found other parents to join the suit and it then filed an injunction seeking to end segregation in the public schools in Kansas (Knappman, 1994, pg 466).

    Read More

  • Brown v. Board of Education

    1307 Words  | 3 Pages

    The case started in Topeka, Kansas, a black third-grader named Linda Brown had to walk one mile through a railroad switchyard to get to her black elementary school, even though a white elementary school was only seven blocks away. Linda's father, Oliver Brown, tried to enroll her in the white elementary school seven blocks from her house, but the principal of the school refused simply because the child was black. Brown went to McKinley Burnett, the head of Topeka's branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and asked for help (All Deliberate Speed pg 23). The NAACP was eager to assist the Browns, as it had long wanted to challenge segregation in public schools. The NAACP was looking for a case like this because they figured if they could just expose what had really been going on in "separate but equal society" that the circumstances really were not separate but equal, bur really much more disadvantaged to the colored people, that everything would be changed. The NAACP was hoping that if they could just prove this to society that the case would uplift most of the separate but equal facilities. The hopes of this case were for much more than just the school system, the colored people wanted to get this case to the top to abolish separate but equal.

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On Brown V. Board Of Education

    704 Words  | 2 Pages

    Brown v. Board of Education, which was the 1954 Supreme Court decision ordering America’s public schools to be desegregated, has become one of the most time-honored decisions in American constitutional law, and in American history as a whole. Brown has redefined the meaning of equality of opportunity, it established a principle that all children have a constitutional right to attend school without discrimination. With time, the principles of equality that were established, because of the Brown trial, extended beyond desegregation to disability, sexuality, bilingual education, gender, the children of undocumented immigrants, and related issues of civil equality.

    Read More

  • Brown v. Board of Education Decision

    2171 Words  | 5 Pages

    Before the decision of Brown v. Board of Education, many people accepted school segregation and, in most of the southern states, required segregation. Schools during this time were supposed to uphold the “separate but equal” standard set during the 1896 case of Plessy v. Ferguson; however, most, if not all, of the “black” schools were not comparable to the “white” schools. The resources the “white” schools had available definitely exceed the resources given to “black” schools not only in quantity, but also in quality. Brown v. Board of Education was not the first case that assaulted the public school segregation in the south. The title of the case was shortened from Oliver Brown ET. Al. v. the Board of Education of Topeka Kansas. The official titled included reference to the other twelve cases that were started in the early 1950’s that came from South Carolina, Virginia, Delaware and the District of Columbia. The case carried Oliver Brown’s name because he was the only male parent fighting for integration. The case of Brown v. Board o...

    Read More

  • Separate and Unequal: Overcoming Segregation in America

    1916 Words  | 4 Pages

    At the time of the African-American Civil Rights movement, segregation was abundant in all aspects of life. Separation, it seemed, was the new motto for all of America. But change was coming. In order to create a nation of true equality, segregation had to be eradicated throughout all of America. Although most people tend to think that it was only well-known, and popular figureheads such as Martin Luther King Junior or Rosa Parks, who were the sole launchers of the African-American Civil Rights movement, it is the rights and responsibilities involved in the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision which have most greatly impacted the world we live in today, based upon how desegregation and busing plans have affected our public school systems and way of life, as well as the lives of countless African-Americans around America. The Brown v. Board of Education decision offered African-Americans a path away from common stereotypes and racism, by empowering many of the people of the United States to take action against conformity and discrimination throughout the movement.

    Read More

  • Brown v. Board of Education

    1158 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Success of The Civil Rights Movement in the 1950's

    840 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Oliver Brown's Case: The Brown V. Board Of Education

    3045 Words  | 7 Pages

    For fifty five years, Americans accepted segregation between the African American and the white race. In the Plessy v. Ferguson case of 1896, the Supreme Court ruled that public facilities that are “separate but equal” do not violate the jurisdiction of the Fourteenth Amendment. Due to this ruling, all spaces including educational facilities in the South were expectedly segregated. However, in 1951, that assumption was uprooted. Oliver Brown, an African American father, attempted to register his daughter Linda in an all-white public school in Topeka, Kansas; expectedly, he and his daughter were turned away. Brown immediately took the matter to court with the assistance of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Rejected by the district court, the case was taken up to the Supreme Court. The attack on segregation was based upon the clauses of the Fifth Amendment including the Due Process Clause. The case also considered the impact of the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Around the same time, four other similar lawsuits appealed to the Court, originating from Delaware, South Carolina, Virginia and the District of Columbia. The Court grouped the five cases into one, naming it after Oliver Brown. The Brown v. Board of Education case was then reargued in 1953.1

    Read More

  • Brown vs Board of Education Case

    1275 Words  | 3 Pages

    Plessy vs Ferguson was a case in which it stated a precedent. In 1892, an African American named Homer Plessy did not give up his seat to a white man("HISTORY OF BROWN V. BOARD OF EDUCATION"). He then got arrested and taken to jail. Plessy than went to the Supreme Court to argue that his Fourteenth Amendment was violated. However, the Supreme Court ruled against Plessy and set the precedent that “separate but equal” is really equal("HISTORY OF BROWN V. BOARD OF EDUCATION") .

    Read More

  • Brown v Board of Education

    2329 Words  | 5 Pages

    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...

    Read More

  • Oliver Brown Vs Board Of Education Essay

    679 Words  | 2 Pages

    “Separate is not equal.” In the case of Plessey vs. Ferguson in 1896 the U.S. Supreme Court said racial segregation didn’t violate the Constitution, so racial segregation became legal. In 1954 the case of Oliver Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka this case proved that separate is not equal. Oliver Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka was revolutionary to the education system, because colored people and Caucasians had segregated schools. The Caucasians received a better education and the colored people argued that they were separate but not equal. This would pave the way for integrated schools and change the education system as we knew it.

    Read More

  • Warren Court Case Analysis

    666 Words  | 2 Pages

    Board of Education; in which the court overturned the 1896 Supreme Court decision of Plessy V. Ferguson, which allowed for societal segregation. The Court made its decision based on the violation of the Equal Protection Clause found in the 14 amendment. The overruling of Brown was the catalyst that lead to the advancement of Civil

    Read More

  • Brown v. Board of Education v. Today

    1272 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Brown v. Board of Education decision eliminated segregation in public schools, an injustice that so many African-Americans fought to end not only in public schools, but also public places. The Brown v. Board of Education decision was a step into the future where African-American and Caucasians could intermingle rather than be separated just because of race. Segregation in the early 50’s had finally reached the end of its journey and a new law was made to ban segregation and promote integration.

    Read More

  • Brown v. Board of Education: A Civil Rights Milestone

    2443 Words  | 5 Pages

    Oliver Brown, father of Linda Brown decided that his third grade daughter should not have to walk one mile through a railroad switchyard just to get to the bus stop before she could even get to the separate Negro school for her area. He attempted to enroll her in the white public school only three blocks from their home, but her enrollment was denied due to her race. The browns believed this was a violation of their rights, and took their case to the courts. This wasn’t the first time that blacks found their constitutional rights violated. After the civil war, laws were passed to continue the separation of blacks and whites throughout the southern states, starting with the Jim Crow laws which officially segregated the whites from the black. It wasn’t until 1896 in Plessy vs. Ferguson that black people even began to see equality as an option. Nothing changed in the world until 1954 when the historical ruling of Brown vs. The Board of Education that anything changed. Until then, all stores, restaurants, schools and public places were deemed ‘separate but equal’ through the Plessy vs. Ferguson ruling in 1896. Many cases just like the Brown vs. Board of Education were taken to the Supreme Court together in a class action suite. The world changed when nine justices made the decision to deem segregation in public schools unconstitutional.

    Read More

  • Plessy V Ferguson Essay

    799 Words  | 2 Pages

    Plessy v Ferguson was a landmark case taken to the United States Supreme Court. The ruling of the case was important to the jurisprudence in the United States. Homer Plessy brought the case to the Supreme Court after the Louisiana Supreme Court did not rule in his favor. The 7-1 ruling in 1896 showed the effect of the Jim Crow laws on the two different races in the nation. The Plessy v Ferguson case shaped race relations for years to come. The Supreme Court’s decision put the judicial stamp of approval on segregation and the “separate but equal” doctrine.

    Read More

More about Brown V Board Of Education Essay

Open Document