Brown V Board Of Education Topeka Case Study

Board of Education, resulted in the overturning of the “separate, but equal” doctrine under the realization that separation is what took away the equality. In the early 1950s, schools in Topeka, Kansas segregated people by race, leaving Linda Brown and her sister to walk through a hazardous railroad switchyard to get to the bus stop for their school. There was a school closer to where they lived, however, it was an all white school. Linda and her family saw the segregation systems as a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment and took it to court. Federal district courts claimed the segregation was harmful to African American youths, however due to the similar qualities the all-black and all-white schools shared, it was deemed fully constitutional under the “separate, but equal” doctrine. The case was taken to the Supreme Court and the court expressed that even though the schools shared similar facilities, segregated schools could never be equal. As such, the “separate, but equal” doctrine was overruled as it violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. This decision resulted in the precedent that any laws that segregated people, no matter how similar their facilities may be, was unconstitutional.(Paraphrased from www.streetlaw.org)

Brown v. the Board of Education was a case that helped shaped America’s education system into what it is today. ‘Separate but equal’ is phrase well attributed to the civil rights movement in all aspects of life: water fountains, movie theaters, restaurants, bathrooms, schools, and much more. This phrase was coined legal in Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896. Plessy v. Ferguson said that racial segregation of public facilities was legal so long as they were ‘equal.’ Before this even, Black Codes, passed in 1865 under President Johnson legalized the segregation of public facilities including schools. In 1868, the Fourteenth Amendment was ratified guaranteeing all citizens equal protection under the law. Still, though, blacks were not given equal opportunities when it came to voting, schooling and many other inherent rights. 1875 brought the Civil Rights Act that prohibited the discrimination in places of public accommodation. These places of public accommodation did not seem to include educational facilities. Jim Crow Laws become widespread in 1887, legalizing racial separation. These downfalls were paused by development of the Nation Association for the Advancement of Colored People that was founded in 1909. This association began to fight the discriminatory policies plaguing the country, especially in the southern areas. Finally Brown v. the Board of Education fought these decisions, stating that ‘separate but equal’ and discrimination allowed by the latter decisions did not have a

In the first amendment, it is stated that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the exercise thereof.”. From this, it made clear that the founding fathers’ original intent was for the Government to take a neutral position with respect to religion; the Government was not to favor any one religion over another. “Almighty God we acknowledge our independence upon Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parent, our teachers and our Country. Amen.” In 1951, that prayer was conducted in class every morning in all New York public schools as ordered by New York State Board of Regents; it was called a “nondenominational prayer”. The short prayer was created with the intent of developing students’ moral

Board of Education(1954) case were Linda Brown, Oliver Brown, Robert Carter, Harold Fatzer, Jack Greenberg, Thurgood Marshall, Frank D. Reeves, Charles Scott, and John Scott("Teaching with documents:," ). Linda lived not to far from a local African American school, but her father had other plans for her and wanted her to go to an all white school so that she could obtain a better education. She was denied the opportunity, so her father teamed up with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People(NAACP). The 14th Amendment was violated when she was denied the right to go to the all white school(Collins). The 14th Amendment says that a states have to give citizen equal protection under all circumstances. Brown v. Board of Education was not immediately ruled. This case ruling was deliberately thought through and started the trend of desegregating schools years later. In the opinion they believed that segregating the white and black students was the right thing to do. Students would be “offended or intimidated” if they had peers of a different race. That was their way of saying that she should not be allowed to attend the all white school in her community. This case had no had no dissenting opinion. By the case beginning combined to other similar case it was brought to the Supreme Court. They overruled “separate but equal” because of the previous case Plessy v. Ferguson because it violate the 14th amendment("Brown v. Board," 2012).

Brown v. Board of Education was a landmark case that was decided by the Supreme Court of America in 1954. It is a case that is believed to have brought to an end decades of increasing racial segregation that was experienced in America’s public schools. The landmark decision of this case was resolved from six separate cases that originated from four states. The Supreme Court is believed to have preferred rearguments in the case because of its preference for presentation of briefs. The briefs were to be heard from both sides of the case, with the focus being on five fundamental questions. The questions focused on the attorneys’ opinions about whether Congress viewed segregation in public schools when it ratified the 14th amendment (Benoit, 2013). Changes were then made to the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause.

The white children would grow up and teach their children to hate the blacks. The racial segregation in schools will affect black students’ ability to learn. In the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka case the supreme court ordered that all the school to desegregate their all-white schools, and allow access to the black students to integrate the all-white public schools. The Little Rock Central High School was willing to let the black students integrate. The high school let all the black students in Arkansas to take a test for whether or not they were worthy to be the first black children to attend an all-white school. Only nine students passed the test, and were allowed access into Little Rock Central High School which was an all-white school. In September 4, 1957 only Elizabeth Eckford showed up on the first day of school only to be forced to leave because there was issues with the mob of white people. There were many white women yelling out “Lynch her, lynch her, lynch

The 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution helped ratify state imposed segregation of black and white. However, at the time of the 14th Amendments inception public schools were governed mostly by private committees that made rules to regulate schools as they saw fit. Due to this, little to no change was seen in the public school system regarding segregation. Since that time the notion of “free common schools” has prevailed and the belief that public schools should exist for all children regardless of sex, age, race, religion, etc.

A public school in New York during the start of each school day started with the Pledge of Allegiance and followed by a nondenominational prayer. The New York state law also allowed students to skip the prayer if found offensive. A parent of a student attending this school sued deeming the law violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. Supreme Courts majority rule (8-1) claimed YES the public school sponsored prayer violates Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, even with allowing students to skip the prayer, it was still considered unconstitutional. This case is important because Chief Justice, Earl Warren states that school sanctioned prayers, including any type of public promotion of religion, violates the Establishment

One event that had an impact was the Brown VS Topeka board of education case 1954 which was the first case to challenge segregation in Kansas. Linda brown had to go to an African American only school and was not allowed to attend the local neighbourhood school despite her parents wanting her to. Linda Browns parents went to court backed up by their local NAACP lawyers who expressed in court evidence which showed that separate education created low self-esteem and was psychologically harmful. The National Association for the advancement of Coloured People (The NAACP) who were a group lead by black intellectuals aimed to ensure the political, educational, social and economic equality of minority group citizens of United States and eliminate race prejudice. They also stated that there was evidence that the educational achievement of students was restricted because of this policy. The case took 18 months and on 17th may 1954, a closing judgement was reached where Chief Justice Warren said that 'separate but equal has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.' Although a clear conclusion wasn't reached, some areas began to desegregate and by 1957, 300,000 black children were attending schools that had formerly been

Back in 1898, the Supreme Court case of Plessy v. Ferguson allowed states to set segregation laws, and it created the term “separate but equal”. What transpired were public services such as restrooms, drinking fountains, restaurants, and methods of transportation that were exclusive to white, or colored citizens. Over half a century later, the case of Brown v. Board of Education turned that term upside down, and declaring that it violated the fourteenth amendment for people of all colors, including black and whites, to be forced away from one another in schools. No longer were there schools primarily for African Americans, the public school system was in the process of becoming a melting pot of people of all genders, colors, and backgrounds.

In the state of Pennsylvania, all children that attended a public school were required at the beginning of each school day to read at least ten verses from the Holy Bible. After the readings, school authorities required all students to recite the Lord’s Prayer. However, with a note from a parent to the school, students could be excluded from this. Having said that, even though there was a way out of participating, it did not matter because the school still violated the Establishment Clause, which is in the First Amendment that states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion…”

While the fight heightens over the schools, a stirred social equality development among American blacks started to challenge isolation in different areas of national life. In 1954 school isolation, the Supreme Court took incredible outcomes; in Brown versus Board of Education of Topeka. The court put aside allowing urban communities of more than 15,000 to keep up independent schools for blacks and whites. They decided that all isolation in government funded schools is indivisible unequal and all blacks banned from going to state funded schools with white understudies are precluded square with security from claiming the law as ensured by the Fourteen Amendments. The principle was drawn out to state-upheld schools and colleges in 1956. The school

We come then to the question presented: Does segregation of children in public schools solely on the basis of race, even though the physical facilities and other "tangible" factors may be equal, deprive the children of the minority group of equal educational opportunities? We believe that it does...We conclude that in the field of public education the doctrine of 'separate but equal' has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal. Therefore, we hold that the plaintiffs and others similarly situated for whom the actions have been brought are, by reason of the segregation complained of, deprived of the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment.

Prayer in school does not violate the constitution and is not carried out by clergy or promoting

These cases help us realize the extent of how much is allowed and how much is prohibited. Prayer in school can be a controversial topic, with many overlapping matters and the line between what is acceptable religious expression, and what is not, is a line that gets blurry and is misunderstood. As the courts have reiterated the First Amendment does not relegate public schools as religiously void place. The main point made throughout these landmark cases is that a school cannot encourage or endorse prayer or religion, but cannot discriminate private prayers or religious acts. At many public schools, students of all different faiths, can be seen expressing their religion, whether it be students praying before their meals, wearing religious clothing, or attending religion-oriented meetings after school. Many opinion articles say that having religion in public is great because of the diversity of thought and ideas, as well as a cultivation of the minds of a student. They argue that prayer in schools will lead to more respected and moralized citizens. Prayer has been known to be a way to meditate and express oneself and show humility. People say that this can curb the violence and abuse rate in school and calm students. Others argue that prayer has no place in a public education and that it should be left behind at the door of the school. Their argument is that school is a place for education, so why should religion be a part of it? They also argue that prayers can make kids think