Analysis of The Brown vs. Education Case and The Little Rock Nine

Sixty-two years ago, the Supreme Court ruled the “separate but equal” doctrine unconstitutional. The decision from the Plessy v. Ferguson case was lawfully denounced by the Brown v. Board of Education. The Brown case, which was initiated by the members of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), served as a stimulus for challenging segregation in all areas of society, especially in public educational institutions. Among the support for the desegregation in school systems, there was a young yet compelling voice who was heard by numerous ears in the rural city in Farmville, Alabama. The virtuous and determined Barbara Johns, who was only a high school student then led her tiny, hovel-like school’s student body and the Farmville community to file a lawsuit in the hope of terminating the inequality in regards to the educational system.

Hi Robert, Thank you for your post this week as it covered the pros and cons of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. One of the statements that you made about the 1960’s being harsh in the life of an African American reminded me of one of the rulings that had been achieved concerning education. In 1957, several African American students were approved to integrate with a high school located in Arkansas, only after the 1954 case of Brown vs. Board of Education had been battled and won within the court system (Schultz, 2013). This case stated that by having segregation between the white and black schools proved to be unequal. However, the white students did not make it easy on the new ones coming in and were said to have teased and tormented them.

Mo Hock Ke Lok Po v. Stainback (1944) was another court case that gave parents the right to have their children taught in a foreign language. This was a significant victory because it implied that parents had a voice in regards to the education their children were to receive.

In the early 1950's, racial segregation in public schools was the norm across America. Although all the schools in a given district were supposed to be equal, most black schools were far inferior to their white counterparts.

Even though most people only know of the famous Brown v. Board of Education case, many other cases also took a major part in overturning the harsh laws that African Americans faced for a long period of time in this country. Brown v. Board of Education was the most important Supreme Court decision of the 20th century (National Park). Without this case, the education system and other segregated facilities might not have ever changed through the course of history (Kirk). Not only was this one person fighting the Board of Education, but it consisted of multiple cases put together to take to the Supreme Court. This shows that lots of people had the same feeling towards the subject at hand. These various cases and the people involved in each

These statistics would never had existed if not for the landmark Brown v. Board of Education of 1954,

The racial segregation in southern schools was very serious in the 1960’s era. There were many black students that missed out on an education because they had to quit to help the family or lived to far from a colored school. Kansas, Delaware, South Carolina, Washington D.C. And Virginia challenged the constitutionality of racial segregation in public schools. But things like the Little Rock Nine and Brown v. Board of Education made the government change their minds about Racial School Segregation. Brown V. Board of Education of Topeka 1954 was a major case in African American History.

The Supreme Court case Brown v. The Board of Education began in 1950 with an eight year old girl. Linda Brown, a black third grader in Topeka, Kansas grew up in a time where schools were segregated based on race. By 1950 Topeka, Kansas had 18 schools for white children and only four for black children. To get to her all-black school, Linda was forced to walk over a mile. Her trek was riddled with difficulties from the bitter cold of winter to the dangerous journey through a railroad switch-yard. Ironically, Linda only lived seven blocks away from an all-white school called Sumner, a ten minute walk for the third grader. Her father, Oliver Brown, did not want his daughter to endure hardships just to get to school. He brought the case to the

One of the biggest turning points for African Americans was the case of Brown vs the Board of Education. In the 1950’s, public places were segregated, including the local schools. There were all white-school and all-black schools. During this time, many African American children had to be bused out of their neighborhoods or had to walk several miles just to attend their specific school. Brown vs the Board of Education was not just about equality, this case was the starting point of many American realizing that separate but equal was not effective. This case was the catalyst to equality when using restrooms and water fountains, essentially making all men/women equal, regardless of race, creed, or color.

The story of Brown v. Board of Education, which ended legal segregation in public schools, is one of hope and courage. When the people agreed to be plaintiffs in the case, they never knew they would change history. The people who make up this story were ordinary people. They were teachers, secretaries, welders, ministers and students who simply wanted to be treated equally. Marshall personally argued the case before the Court. Although he raised a variety of legal issues on appeal, the most common one was that separate school systems for blacks and whites were inherently unequal, and thus violate the "equal protection clause" of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Furthermore, relying on sociological tests, such as the one performed

At the end of the Civil War the newly freed slaves now face a new source of oppression to their society. The court cases before the Brown vs the Board of education is an abundant amount of examples of oppression in the education reform.

Even before the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s, lawmakers were attempting to right the wrongs of over two hundred and forty five years of slavery and oppression of minorities in the United States. In 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued a directive forbidding defense contractors from using racially discriminatory hiring practices (Week) and on May 17, 1954 the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the provisions of Plessy v. Ferguson, which allowed for “separate but equal” public facilities, including public schools. The unanimous decision in the case of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas declared that “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal” thus ending federal tolerance of racial segregation and igniting

The Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka Supreme Court case of 1952, was not just one single case, but five different cases from; Delaware, District of Columbia, Virginia, South Carolina, and Kansas, all of which challenging the constitutionality of racial segregation in public schools. The main issue in the case was the confusion of the 14th amendment and if segregation fell under the idea of equal protections. Before the Brown vs. Board of Education was brought to the Supreme Court, there were a series of cases brought to the courts by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). These cases confronted the issue of segregation within the school systems. These cases did not bring on the results of the Brown vs.

“Public schools for black children received less funding… Things like bathrooms were rarely cleaned.” (source 1). African American citizens’ segregated areas faced awful quality, unlike the whites’ property. African Americans were not treated fairly and they lacked respect and equality. “Segregationists threatened to hold protests and physically block the students from entering the school.”

The rural schools were one-roomed buildings with a single stove for heat. The African American schools were constantly being vandalized. Some of families had set up and organized where there were secret schools to ensure the safety of the students. The classes were held different days each week or in different buildings to keep the schooling a secret from the groups, such as the KKK. White children and the adults humiliated and ridiculed the African Americans on their way to schools. Some of the white segregationist would get easily angered by African Americans carrying the books because they didn’t believe they should be taught or deserved an education (10).