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Brown v board of education research
Brown v board of education research
The meaning and significance of Conformity in the 1950s
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The 1950’s have received a reputation as an age of political, social and cultural conformity. This reputation is rightfully given, as with almost every aspect of life people were encouraged to conform to society. Conforming is not necessarily a negative thing for society, and the aspects of which people were encouraged to conform in the 1950’s have both negative and positive connotations. One of the major debates of the 1950’s was the war on race, specifically the desegregation of schools. Now if someone were to argue that the 1950’s were not based on conformity, than the war on race would be backbone of the argument. The unfortunate thing for the future of the nation as a whole was that despite government efforts to see the importance of equality, many people, including state officials, ignored the demands of the federal government. A key example of this is the case of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. In this case the court ruled that “in the field of public education the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ has no place,” therefore allowing the African American students t...
“The Supreme Court’s 1954 Brown decision holds up fairly well, however, as a catalyst and starting point for wholesale shifts in perspective” (Branch). This angered blacks, and was a call to action for equality, and desegregation. The court decision caused major uproar, and gave the African American community a boost because segregation in schools was now
During the post WWII period in America, the face of the nation changed greatly under the presidency of Truman and Eisenhower. America underwent another era of good feelings as they thought themselves undefeatable and superior over the rest of the world. Communism was the American enemy and American sought to rid the world of it. Because of the extreme paranoia caused by Communism, conformity became an ideal way to distinguish American Culture from the rest. Conformity became a part of every American Life to a large extent. It became evident through the medium of culture, society and politics throughout the era of the 50s.
Out of some of the most turbulent times in history have come the greatest ages of success and prosperity. The 1920’s and 1950’s are two eras that exemplify the spirit of triumph and wealth. In both decades, a nation thrilled by the victorious conclusion of war and the return of their loved ones from war entered into an age of capitalism and materialism, bolstering the economy and with it national pride. Some of features most common to the 20’s and 50’s were consumerism and the accompanying optimistic mindset, the extent to which new ideas entered society, and discrimination in terms of both sexism and racism.
The Supreme Court is perhaps most well known for the Brown vs. Board of Education decision in 1954. By declaring that segregation in schools was unconstitutional, Kevern Verney says a ‘direct reversal of the Plessy … ruling’1 58 years earlier was affected. It was Plessy which gave southern states the authority to continue persecuting African-Americans for the next sixty years. The first positive aspect of Brown was was the actual integration of white and black students in schools. Unfortunately, this was not carried out to a suitable degree, with many local authorities feeling no obligation to change the status quo. The Supreme Court did issue a second ruling, the so called Brown 2, in 1955. This forwarded the idea that integration should proceed 'with all deliberate speed', but James T. Patterson tells us even by 1964 ‘only an estimated 1.2% of black children ... attended public schools with white children’2. This demonstrates that, although the Supreme Court was working for Civil Rights, it was still unable to force change. Rathbone agrees, saying the Supreme Court ‘did not do enough to ensure compliance’3. However, Patterson goes on to say that ‘the case did have some impact’4. He explains how the ruling, although often ignored, acted ‘relatively quickly in most of the boarder s...
During the 1950’s there was significant social change taking place in America. Young people were dissatisfied with certain conservative aspects of society and their conduct reflected this. They embraced the rock and roll culture, the new style of music and also the new styles of dancing and dress that were associated with it shocked the older more conservative people. Young people were also quick to protest against the controversial issues of the 1950’s. Civil Rights, the Vietnam War and general politics provided fuel for an already blazing fire. Mass production meant cheaper motorcycles and cars, providing the young people with freedom that was previously not with in their reach. A barrier formed between the older and younger generations due to a lack communication. This was extended by the media’s inaccurate portrayal of the young people. All of these factors left the older generation trying to understand their children’s behaviour.
The late 1900s were a time of tremendous cultural change and instability in American history, but this change did not begin until after the relative unison of the late forties and fifties. After World War II (1939-1945) ended, a desire for normality led to large scale compliance to social constructs, with people reentering existing expectations such as men working, women tending the homes, and minorities functioning only as second class citizens. Because of these social barriers' reestablishment, conformity was simply the norm.
The 1950‘s was a time noted for its high expectations and widespread conformity. The children growing up in the 1950’s were from the baby boomer generation. By the 1960’s some of these children began to migrate away from the ways of their upbringings. These children called themselves the Hippies. Even though the Hippie kids had grown up in the richest economy America had ever seen, they sought an alternative lifestyle to the one their parents led. This trend spread and eventually progressed into a nationwide movement, popularly known as the Hippie Movement. The Movement created its own entirely new sub culture that enthralled the nation. The Hippie Movement of the 1960’s transformed people’s perspectives on cultural matters, moral values, and created a new unique genre of fine arts.
1954 was a new time and more than tears and words were needed. Just about everyone that was black and alive at the time realized that the long, hard struggles, led by the NAACP, had forced the Supreme Court to take a major stand on the side of justice in the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka decision. "We conclude, unanimously, that in the field of public education the doctrine of 'separate but equal' has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal." A salvation of freedom was in the making, but the making proved difficult indeed. The next decade brought racial war to the South. The eleven years between the Brown decision in 1954 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 appeared to be a prolonged series of bloody conflicts and irrational white pig-headedness, with fiery protestations that the white south would never cave in.
As people socialize, they create interactions whose products are influential to act back upon the people to determine or constrain actions. Moreover, social interactions may be likened to a theatre whereby people are the actors as the rest of the people are the audience. These other people actively observe the role-playing and respond by reacting to the performances. However, people’s behaviors tend to change when they are alone as they get rid of the roles they play in front of others.
The 1920's was a time of major change in every area of life for people in the United States. America's once conservative society started to become more and more liberal as political and economic changes were being made. The dramatic switch from one way of living to another caused most people to experience what felt like culture shock, while some people celebrated the new ways. The types of music, dancing, and other forms of entertainment were much different than what they had ever been. The major shifts in economics, politics, and social norms were revolutionary. American's had a difficult time adjusting to the new ways, causing an eruption of chaos and conflict and only some conformity.
The 1950's enormously merit its notoriety for being a time of conformity. With the abhorrences of communism still new in the back of everybody’s head, Americans were anxious to come back to their normal lives and demonstrate that the American lifestyle was the most ideal approach to live. In spite of the fact that Civil Rights developments showed hostility towards conformity through objections of sit-ins and boycotts, the greater part of the white populace wound up plainly indistinguishable as the middle class grew, most people lived in the suburbs, and family life was noticeably average.
In United States history their has been been controversial topics. Each controversial topic has opposing views which makes it difficult to sort out information. More specifically the 1950’s was different then preceding years in history. The 1950’s offered more opportunities and excitement for the people of the day. An analysis of United States history revealed certain aspects of american life in the 1950’s: great peace, progress and prosperity as a vast part of the populations lives.
Solomon Asch performed the line-experiment studies in the 1950’s as a social experiment. The purpose of this experiment was to demonstrate the power of conformity in a group of people. He wanted to see if other would give in to the pressure of conformity even if the answer was wrong and if they do give in then how quickly would it happen?
Conformity is a concept that has intrigued psychologists for decades; a concept that has been the foundation of numerous studies, books, and that has been subtly woven into the media. Most of the research done on conformity has to do with what can cause conforming behavior and when conforming behavior is most prevalent. There are generally two types of influences that can cause conforming behavior, informational social influences and normative social influence. Both deal with the when and why of conformity in society and what situations typically cause a group or one or two people to conform. The most powerful and dangerous type of conformity is conformity to authority, which can cause people to obey orders that they would normally not follow in any other situation. With that being said, informational social influence can fuel conforming behavior, especially in instances when the situation is a crisis, ambiguous, and when other people in the situation have authority or expertise.
In the summer of 1950 thirteen black parents went to register their children for school in Topeka Kansas. Sadly they were turned around and told to register their children at one of the four black only schools in the city. Some parents decided to oblige while others came to the conclusion that attending those schools was a foundationless request. The parents who opted out of going to the black only schools brought suit against the school board, and in the winter of 51 the case reached the Supreme Court. Ruling in favor of the parents, the court surmised that segregation in the public school system was in direct violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. Many years’ later children of all ethnic backgrounds go to school together, but at the end