brown vs. board of education
Harrison, Maureen. Landmark Decisions of the United States Supreme Court. Excellent Books, 1991.
the plantiffs contend that segregated public schools are not "equal" and cannot be made "equal", and that hence they are deprived of the equal protection of the laws.(Harrison#69)
Dudley, Susan Gold. Brown v. Board of Education: Separate But Equal?.Benchmark Books, 2005.
Overal E Faubus had unseated Cherry in the primary and won election as governer of Arkansas in 1954. During his bid for reelection in 1956, Faubus pledged that "no school distrect will be forced to mix the races as long as I am governor of Arkansas."(Dudley#94)
americanhistory.si.edu/brown/history/2-battleground/pursuit-equality-1.html.
They welcomed the support of the Freedmen's Bureau, white charities, and missionary societies. Black communities, many desperately poor, also dug deep into their own resources to build and maintain schools that met their needs and reflected their values.(American History)
Harrison, Maureen. Landmark Decisions of the United States Supreme Court. Excellent Books, 1991.
because of these actions {where one person represents a larger group}, because of the wide applicability of this decision, and because of the great variety of local conditions, the formulation of decrees [order of the court] in these cases presents problems of considerable complexity.(Harrison#130)
Graglia, Lino A. Disaster by Decree. Cornell University, 1976.
Board won. The court felt compelled to rule in favour of Board of Education as Plessy vs Ferguson's precedent had not been overturned yet. (Graglia #31)
Goode, Stephen. The Controversial Court, Supreme Court Influences in American Life. Julian Messner, 1982.
" Segregation of white and colored children in public schools has a detrimental effect upon the colored children. The impact is greater when it has the sanction of law."
americanhistory.si.edu/brown/history/2-battleground/pursuit-equality-1.html.
" We went every day about nine o'clock, with our books wrapped in paper to prevent the police or white persons from seeing them...After school we left the same way we entered, one by one, when we would go to the square about a block from school, and wait for each other. " —Susie King, who attended a secret school in Savannah, Georgia(American History)
Goode, Stephen. The Controversial Court, Supreme Court Influences in American Life. Julian Messner, 1982.
" for the policy of separating the races is usually interpreted as denoting the inferiorty of the negro group. a sence of inferiority affect the motivation of a child to learn. Segregation with the anction of law, therefore, has a tendency to retard the educational and mental development of negro children and to deprive them of some of the benefits they would recieve in a racially integrated school system."
americanhistory.si.edu/brown/history/2-battleground/pursuit-equality-1.html.
Across the country, parents and community leaders fought a long struggle against school segregation. With little money or public support, they argued their cases before white judges and all-white school boards that had little sympathy for their concerns. The stories here outline three examples of the legal battles in the long fight that eventually led to the U.S. Supreme Court.(American History)
americanhistory.si.edu/brown/history/2-battleground/pursuit-equality-1.html.
After the Civil War, millions of formerly enslaved African Americans hoped to join the larger society as full and equal citizens.(American History)
Dudley, Susan Gold. Brown v. Board of Education: Separate But Equal?.Benchmark Books, 2005.
Almost fifty years after the Brown ruling, its goal of desegregating the schools receives mixed reviews. results from a 2003 study by the civil rights project at harvard suggest that the schools are becoming more segregated. in many cases, this has occured because white families have moved away from the cities, wehre a majority of blacks and hispanics live.( Dudley #121)
americanhistory.si.edu/brown/history/2-battleground/pursuit-equality-1.html.
Although some white Americans welcomed them, others used people's ignorance, racism, and self-interest to sustain and spread racial divisions. By 1900, new laws and old customs in the North and the South had created a segregated society that condemned Americans of color to second-class citizenship. (American History)
Dudley, Susan Gold. Brown v. Board of Education: Separate But Equal?.Benchmark Books, 2005.
Attention now turned to the de facto segregation John F. Kennedy had mentioned. This racial separation by neighborhood could be found in the north as well as the states could no longwer operate seperate schools for blacks and whites.(Dudley # 111)
Graglia, Lino A. Disaster by Decree. Cornell University, 1976.
Basically the overturning of Plessy vs. Ferguson An elementary school aged girl, Linda Brown, had to walk really far to school, passing several white elementary schools on her way. Her father filed a law suit against the Board of education in the city of Topeka, Kansas Cout ruled that segregation laws do in fact violate the 13th and 14th amendments and it was time to integrate States that disagreed with this ruling tried to find loop holes around it Alabama told their schools that children had to graduate in their current schools Others made it a rule that you could apply to other schools but the application process was so lengthy it would take years for students to be accepted into schools, and by that time they would have already graduated A lot of times the schools that were forced to integrate just shut down (Graglia#21)
americanhistory.si.edu/brown/history/2-battleground/pursuit-equality-1.html.
Before the 1860s most of the South had only a rudimentary public school system. After the Civil War, southern states ultimately created a dual educational system based on race. These separate schools were anything but equal.(American History)
Harrison, maureen. landmark decisions of the united states supreme court 1991 excellent books
Decision did not abolish segregation in other public areas, declared the mandatory segregation existent in 21 states unconstitutional.( Graglia #Uknown)
americanhistory.si.edu/brown/history/2-battleground/pursuit-equality-1.html.
Denied public educational resources, people of color strengthened their own schools and communities and fought for the resources that had been unjustly denied to their children. Parents' demands for better schools became a crucial part of the larger struggle for civil rights.(American History)
Graglia, Lino A. Disaster by Decree. Cornell University, 1976.
Feeling triumph and victory, the Brown vs Board of Education case in 1954 acted as a catalyst in continuing to strengthen the Black Civil Rights movement and the Black community. For the first time, the Black community felt empowered as the highest court in all the land had proven to be on their side. Therefore giving the Black community strength and confidence to continue trying to make changes and bring Integration into a segregated America. These feelings and confidence and determination lead to the Montgomery Bus Boycott as the Black community felt that by changing the school system, many other public facilities such as buses can be integrated too. (Graglia# 19)
Graglia, Lino A. Disaster by Decree. Cornell University, 1976.
Firstly Mr. Brown took the case to the State Court where he argued that it was unfair Linda had to walk further and attend a worse off school. There the Court deemed that the schools were "Separate but equal". This was not the result Mr. Brown wanted. Brown went to McKinley Burnett, head of Topeka's branch of the NAACP, and asked them for help.(Graglia #23)
americanhistory.si.edu/brown/history/2-battleground/pursuit-equality-1.html.
For millions of children, the American public school movement opened new opportunities. But millions of others were excluded because of their race or ethnicity. Segregated education was designed to confine these children to a subservient role in society and second-class citizenship.(American History)
Goode, Stephen. The Controversial Court, Supreme Court Influences in American Life. Julian Messner, 1982.
In 1866, one year after the civil war, the 13th amendment to the constitution declared that slavory " Shall not exist in the United States." two years later, in 1868 , a 14th amendment was addeded among another things, it said: " No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge that privileges or immunites of citizens of th United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, librity, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person with jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws".(Goode 31)
Dudley, Susan Gold. Brown v. Board of Education: Separate But Equal?.Benchmark Books, 2005.
In 1957, the national witnessed the first major test of court-ordered school desegregation. The Battle at central high school in little rock arkansas, became a turning point in the effort to desegregate schools. (Dudley 94)
Dudley, Susan Gold. Brown v. Board of Education: Separate But Equal?.Benchmark Books, 2005.
In 1989, the federal court withdrew from the Boston school system. for the next 10 years officials enrolled students in the school of their choice, provide the balance between black and white students was retained.( Dudley #117)
Graglia, Lino A. Disaster by Decree. Cornell University, 1976.
In Topeka, Kansas 1954, Linda Brown's father beleived his daughter should not have to walk 21 blocks over dangerous railerways past a Whites Only school to get the her Blacks only school that was disadvantaged and lacked sufficient resources. Mr Brown felt the schools should be integrated as Black schools weren't ad well funded as white schools. Linda's father Oliver Brown (tried to enroll her in the white elementary school but the principal of the school refused).(Graglia #27)
americanhistory.si.edu/brown/history/2-battleground/pursuit-equality-1.html.
In the 1840s Benjamin Roberts of Boston began a legal campaign to enroll his five-year-old daughter, Sarah, in a nearby school for whites. The Massachusetts Supreme Court ultimately ruled that local elected officials had the authority to control local schools and that separate schools did not violate black students' rights. The decision was cited over and over again in later cases to justify segregation.(American History)
Harrison, Maureen. Landmark Decisions of the United States Supreme Court. Excellent Books, 1991.
In the first cases in this court construting the 14th admendment, decided shortly after its adoption, the court interpreted it as[prohibiting] all state- imposed discriminations against the negro race. the doctrine of "seprate but equal" did not make its appearance in this court until the 1896 case of Plessy v. Ferguson, involving not education but transportation. (Harrison#97)
Goode, Stephen. The Controversial Court, Supreme Court Influences in American Life. Julian Messner, 1982.
In the previous case in 1896 of Plessy V. Ferguson, it had ruled that " blacks were not denied their equal rights under the 14th Amendment if they where granted "separate but equal" facilities." This case had arisen in Louisiana where their state law requires that blacks rides in separate railroad cars fromthe whites.(Goode 32)
Goode, Stephen. The Controversial Court, Supreme Court Influences in American Life. Julian Messner, 1982.
In the year of 1869, the 15th amendment ensured that "the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall be denied or abridged..... on account of race, color, or previous conditions of servitude."(Goode 31)
Dudley, Susan Gold. Brown v. Board of Education: Separate But Equal?.Benchmark Books, 2005.
NAACP Bates had called eight of the nine black students and told them to enter the school as a group. One of the students, Elizabeth Eckford, had no telephone and did not get the message. She went to school alone and was quickly surrounded by the crowd. Children who came to the protest reflected the fears and prejudices of their parents.(Dudley #97)
Graglia, Lino A. Disaster by Decree. Cornell University, 1976.
NAACP argued that segregated schools sent the message to black children that they were inferior to whites; therefore schools were in-equal The Board of Education's defence was that, because segregation pervades many other aspects of life, segregated schools simply prepared black children for the segregation they would face during adulthood, also argued that schools were not harmful to black children.(Graglia #24)
Harrison, maureen. landmark decisions of the united states supreme court 1991 excellent books
NAACP argued that segregated schools sent the message to black children that they were inferior to whites; therefore schools were in-equal.(Harrison #25)
Harrison, maureen. landmark decisions of the united states supreme court 1991 excellent books
On May 17 1954 The Supreme Court struck down the 'separate but equal' doctrine of Plessy for public education, ruled in favour of the plaintiffs and required the desegregation of schools across America (decision based on whether or not desegregated schools deprived black children of equal protection of the law not on whether or no authors of the fourteenth amendment had segregated schools in mind. (Harrison# 50)
Goode, Stephen. The Controversial Court, Supreme Court Influences in American Life. Julian Messner, 1982.
On May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court handed down its historic decision in the case of Brown V. Board of Education. Earl Waren had been appoineted the Chief justice less than a year earlier, but already the character of his court was taking its shape(Goode 27).
Goode, Stephen. The Controversial Court, Supreme Court Influences in American Life. Julian Messner, 1982.
On May 17, 1954, the nine justices appeared at the supreme court for the reading of the decision in Brown V. The Board of Education and the related cases. On justice, Robert Jackson left a hospital bed to be on had for the occasion.( Goode 40-41)
Goode, Stephen. The Controversial Court, Supreme Court Influences in American Life. Julian Messner, 1982.
On several occasions, however, the court showed that it could defend the rights of blacks without using recourse to the Plessy decision. But in 1938 the court ordered that a black student , by the name of Lloyed Gaines, be admitted to the all-white law school at the University of Missouri. This was because missouri had no law school for blacks.(Goode 34)
Graglia, Lino A. Disaster by Decree. Cornell University, 1976.
Schools in the South now had to be desegregated and mixed classes could theoretically reduce racial tensions as people mix and see each other on an equal footing. Showed the Supreme Court could now be used as a tool of striking down racist laws. The scale of the judgement 9-0 sent a clear message that racism was unacceptable in American society. (Graglia #32)
Graglia, Lino A. Disaster by Decree. Cornell University, 1976.
Schools remained segregated in the South despite the case bringing de jure change Many white parents ensured their children went to white schools that were white in everything but not name - noone could force them to send their children to schools in black areas of towns or cities. Little Rock in 1957 is an example of how the legal case didn't change things immediately.(Graglia #20)
Harrison, Maureen. Landmark Decisions of the United States Supreme Court. Excellent Books, 1991.
Supreme Court decision that overturned the Plessy vs. Ferguson decision (1896); led by Chief Justice Earl Warren, the Court ruled that "separate but equal" schools for blacks were inherently unequal and thus unconstitutional. The decision energized the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s. (Harrison #38)
Dudley, Susan Gold. Brown v. Board of Education: Separate But Equal?.Benchmark Books, 2005.
Ten years after the first Brown ruling, desegregation in schools remained a mix of sucesses and failures. in states bordering the deep south, more than 55% of black students attended racially mixed schools, but only 1% of black children had been allowed into white schools inthe deep south.(Dudley#107)
Goode, Stephen. The Controversial Court, Supreme Court Influences in American Life. Julian Messner, 1982.
The 5 cases that where first argued before the Court in December 1952, but six months later in June 1953, the court requested rearument-- a sign of importance and complexity of the issue it ws deciding. Lawyers for both sides were to address themselves to three questions:" was there evidence that the 14th amendment, with its guarantees of equal rights, was intended to apply to public school segregations? was it within the power of the supreme court to abolish segregation? of the court declared segregation unconsititutional , what steps could be taken to bring it to an end?"(Goode 37)
Harrison, maureen. landmark decisions of the united states supreme court 1991 excellent books
The Board of Education's defence was that, because segregation pervades many other aspects of life, segregated schools simply prepared black children for the segregation they would face during adulthood, also argued that schools were not harmful to black children.(Harrison#45)
Graglia, Lino A. Disaster by Decree. Cornell University, 1976.
The U.S. Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education (1954) is one of the most pivotal opinions ever rendered by that body. This landmark decision highlights the U.S. Supreme Court's role in affecting changes in national and social policy. Often when people think of the case, they remember a little girl whose parents sued so that she could attend an all-white school in her neighborhood. In reality, the story of Brown v. Board of Education is far more complex. (Graglia #18)
Graglia, Lino A. Disaster by Decree. Cornell University, 1976.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that racially separate facilities, if equal, did not violate the Constitution. Segregation, the Court said, was not discrimination.(Graglia #22)
Dudley, Susan Gold. Brown v. Board of Education: Separate But Equal?.Benchmark Books, 2005.
The White Mothers who formed the Mothers' League in August 1957 told reporters that their greatest fear-- that black boys would date and eventually marry their white daughters(Dudley#95)
Goode, Stephen. The Controversial Court, Supreme Court Influences in American Life. Julian Messner, 1982.
The concept of "separate but equal" was held for more than fifty years until it was knocked down by the Brown V. Board of education case.(Goode 34)
Dudley, Susan Gold. Brown v. Board of Education: Separate But Equal?.Benchmark Books, 2005.
While the south gradually integrated schools, the North and West lagged behind. In 1973 only 28 percent of the black students in those areas attended integrated schools. Meanwhile, 46 percent of southern blacks went to school with their white classmates.(Dudley #113)
Dudley, Susan Gold. Brown v. Board of Education: Separate But Equal?.Benchmark Books, 2005.
White public schools struggled to integrate, colleges faced their own difficulties in offering equal opportunities to minority students. since the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the federal governments had required employers not to discriminate against blacks and other minorities when hiring and promoting.( Dudley #118-119)
americanhistory.si.edu/brown/history/2-battleground/pursuit-equality-1.html.
Yet, the commitment of African American teachers and parents to education never faltered. They established a tradition of educational self-help and were among the first southerners to campaign for universal public education.(American History)
Harrison, Maureen. Landmark Decisions of the United States Supreme Court. Excellent Books, 1991.
segregation of white and colored children in public schools has a detrimental effect upon the colored children.(Harrison#108)
Harrison, Maureen. Landmark Decisions of the United States Supreme Court. Excellent Books, 1991.
we conclude that in the feild of public education the doctrine of "separate but equal" has no place seterate educational facilities are inherently un equal. therefore, we hold that the plantiffs and others similarly situated for whom actions have been brought are, by reason of thesegregation complained of, deprived of the equal protection of the kaws guaranteed by the 14th admendment. this disposition makes unnecessary any discussion whether such segregation also violates the due process clause of the 14th amendment.(Harrison#128)
