Brown V Ferguson Case

Picture this: a world with no color. Would racism still exist? Or would people be discriminated based on other things such as height, weight, or the sound of their voice? We may never know the answer to these questions. Racism is still alive in the United States, but it is not as severe and oppressive as it was during the era of the Jim Crow laws. The 13th amendment freed the slaves in the United States, however, not many white Americans agreed with this. The 13th amendment did not shield the African Americans from oppression, “The segregation and disenfranchisement laws known as ‘Jim Crow’

The period of 1917 – 1955 saw the positions of black Americans change. However, in this first half of the century, not drastically. The NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of coloured people) was most of the driving forces behind the advances black Americans in the 1930’s, 1940’s and 1950’s, experienced, with every case fought in that decade won; however, whether won or not the ultimate power remained in the hands of the Supreme court, where in some cases, policies would take from a year to a full decade to come to fruition; examples being many schools in the South that were ruled to be desegregated. In terms of general civil rights achieved on a mass scale for black Americans, progress was lacking, with the main changes occurring throughout the 1960’s.

The Supreme Court’s decision in the famous and landmark case, Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 set a precedent for desegregation in schools. But even still, southern activists worked to defend the practice of segregation. Following the Brown decision, grassroots African American activists began challenging segregation through protests continuing into the 1960s (Aiken et al., 2013). During the Eisenhower administration, Congress passed two measures that proved to be ineffective: the Civil Rights Act of 1957 and the Civil Rights Act of 1960. African Americans demonstrated their frustration with lack of progress on the issue through non-violent means and campaigns led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr (Bourne,

The Charles C. Green v County School Board of New Kent County decision of 1968 was a pivotal point in the history of the civil rights movement. It was the court case that finally forced school boards across the country to desegregate their public schools. This did not happen until over a decade after Brown v. Board had deemed segregation unconstitutional and Brown II had sought to abolish it and overturn the “separate but equal” decision of Plessy v. Ferguson. The goal of this paper is to tell the story of how the state of Virginia moved through Brown I, Brown II, and Green v. New Kent County to put an end to segregation in schools.

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

Lifes for blacks in the 19th to mid 20th century was hard. They had to fight for everything they have now and for equal rights. In 1890 , Louisiana passed a Separate car act that said all railroad companies in Louisiana have to provide separate but equal accommodations for whites and non-white passengers. The penalty for sitting in the wrong train car was $25 or 20 days jail. A group of black citizens had joined forces with the East Louisiana Railroad company to fight the act, but were unsuccessful.

Although slavery was finally ended at the end of the nineteenth century black people found themselves still in the process of fighting. What they had to fight for was their own rights. The Emancipation Proclamation and the end of the civil war brought about literal freedom but the beliefs and attitudes of whites, especially in the south kept the black people repressed. In this paper I would like to share the research that I found that helped to launch the fight for freedom in every aspect possible for black people and that is the case of Brown vs. Board of education.

Since Reconstruction, many aspects of American life were segregated. “ laws known as Jim Crow laws permitted and often required segregated bathrooms, drinking fountains, parks, restaurants, and other public spaces. The Supreme Court upheld this legal practice in the case of Plessy v. Ferguson.” While, a half century later, “On May 17, 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Brown vs. Topeka Board of Education that segregated schools are ‘inherently unequal.’” And “In a related case known as Brown II the Court ordered schools to desegregate ‘with all deliberate speed.’” Southern resisted the decision of Brown II order.

On May 17, 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that segregation in American public schools was unconstitutional in the Brown v. Board of Education decision. Until this decision, many states had mandatory segregation laws. Resistance to the new ruling was so widespread that the court issued a second decision in 1955 known as Brown II. The new law ordered school districts to integrate “with a deliberate speed”. Minnijean Brown, Elizabeth Eckford, Ernest Green, Thelma Mothershed, Melba Patillo, Gloria Ray, Terrance Roberts, Jefferson Thomas, and Carlotta Walls were recruited by Daisy Bates, who was President of the Arkansas NAACP. Daisy Bates and others from the NAACP worked with the nine students through counseling sessions and determined that

The Supreme Court, knowing that there will be opposition their decision, especially in the southern states, did not immediately give a means for implementation of its ruling. Rather, the Supreme Court asked the attorney generals in all of the states to submit plans for how to proceed with desegregation in states where segregation in public schools were permitted (“Brown v. Board of Education (1954)”). Because of this, it would take the years to come before the school system was able to become desegregated. One of the immediate actions Brown v. Board of Education did overturn was the decision made in Plessy v. Ferguson. The effects of Brown v. Board of Education could still be seen in today’s current society. The most notable effect is the court decision desegregated schools. Due to the overall success of the court case the NAACP

The Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954 revealed that White Supremacy existed in U.S. “The debates preceding the submission of the Fourteenth Amendment clearly show that there was no intent that it should affect the systems of education maintained by the states”. (The Southern Manifesto) The Southern members of the U.S Congress who did not fully agree on the supreme courts decision put the blame on the system for abusing its power. The Southern members’ blaming the system hides the fact that their reasons for disagreeing are because of their racist views. “We pledge ourselves to use all lawful means to bring about a reversal of this decision which is contrary to the Constitution and to prevent the use of force in its implementation”. (The Southern

Political change can take a long time. Sometimes it is so slow in coming that those who stand to gain from such change decide to help expedite the process of political decision-making. African Americans in the US, especially in the south were still at the receiving end of racial injustice. A “separate but equal” policy was enforced in 1886-97 when the Supreme Court ruled that segregation was not discrimination. Segregation was seen as a process that severely limited the opportunities of black people. In 1954 the “Separate but Equal” policy took a major hit in the Brown v. Board of Education Case of 1954. They stated that in the field of public education, the policy of “Separate but Equal” has no important place. By this time Black Americans were tired of waiting. After being so patient you will see the emergence

African Americans did everything possible in their capability to seek freedom and respect for their rights. African Americans went through severe struggles and hardships to fight for their civil rights and receive equal treatments. Many laws came into effect to end African American segregation and gain equal rights. Some of these include Plessy v. Ferguson of 1896, Brown v. Board of Education 1899, poll taxes and literacy tests, and Civil Rights act of 1963.

The civil rights was a blessing in disguise, to say the least, for the African-Americans’. For many centuries, the civil rights movements maneuvered the African Americans to fight for their God given rights and after the Civil War a new movement for civil rights began. Many Black Americans from 1896 to 1954 were fighting for their rights and thanks to Mahatma Gandhi theorem “Non-violent civil disobedience” the civil rights movement was a success. Although the Civil rights movement was a success, many cases went to the Supreme Court were denied. The Brown vs. Board of Education case was an example of a major success in their civil rights issues. This case led to the Court overturning Plessy v. Ferguson, and declared that racial segregation

The decision to integrate schools in the United States, as made mandatory by Brown v. Board of Education, created a diverse reaction within the country. For some, it was an important victory and a turning point in the long struggle for equality. William Chafe describes much of the Southern reaction to be more with “…resignation than with rebellion” (Chafe 147). While some policy-makers in the South encouraged people to accept the law with reluctant calmness, the outrage was undeniable for those who supported segregation. The reactions of people in the United States shed light on the reality of the world they lived in, and gave a broader understanding to the Civil Rights Movement as a whole.