Essay Brown v. Board of Education: A Step Towards Equality

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas was a milestone in American history, as it began the long process of racial integration, starting with schools. Segregated schools were not equal in quality, so African-American families spearheaded the fight for equality. Brown v. Board stated that public schools must integrate. This court decision created enormous controversy throughout the United States. Without this case, the United States may still be segregated today.

The case of brown v. board of education was one of the biggest turning points for African Americans to becoming accepted into white society at the time. Brown vs. Board of education to this day remains one of, if not the most important cases that African Americans have brought to the surface for the better of the United States. Brown v. Board of Education was not simply about children and education (Silent Covenants pg 11); it was about being equal in a society that claims African Americans were treated equal, when in fact they were definitely not. This case was the starting point for many Americans to realize that separate but equal did not work. The separate but equal label did not make sense either, the

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.

Ever since the founding of the United States of America, blacks have continuously been considered inferior to the white race. In the year of 1954, a substantial advancement in the fight for equality for blacks was prevalent. Countless prominent leaders of the United States realized the injustices that the blacks were forced to endure daily. Stated blatantly in the Declaration of Independence, it is said that all men are created equally. Disregarding the opinions of the men in the South, people began to realize that it was time to truly consider every man who is a citizen of the United States as equals. A life where segregation was not prevalent in schools, restaurants, theatres, parks, buses, and all public

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

The book “Brown v. Board of Education: A Brief History with Documents” is Waldo E. Martin’s observation on not just the landmark case of Brown v. Board but also the institutionalized racism that was overcome to get there. It also documents other cases that Brown v. Board built upon to get the decision that challenged “separate but equal”. In this text Martin gives a glimpse into not just what the court order did from a legislative standpoint, but from a human standpoint, what happened to the people, community, and society in general both prior and in the wake of the of this monumental decision.

The court case known as the Brown v. the Board of Education is notorious for the fight against educational segregation. The court case fought to show the people that “separate” cannot be “equal”. Things such as “The Doll Test and the Fourteenth Amendment” both reveal the truths about how exactly “seperate” cannot be “equal”.

The Brown v. Board of Education was a case that was initiated by members of the local NAACP (National association Advancement of Colored People) organization in Topeka, Kansas where thirteen parents volunteered to participate of the segregation during school. Parents took their children to schools in their neighborhoods in the summer of 1950 and attempted to enroll them for the upcoming school year. All students were refused admission and were forced to attend one of the four schools in the city for African Americans. For most parents and students, this involved traveling some distance from their homes. These parents filed suit against the Topeka Board of Education on behalf of their twenty children. Oliver Brown who was a minister, was the first parent to suit against the problem, so the case came to be named after his last name. Three local lawyers, Charles Bledsoe, Charles Scott and John Scott, were assisted by Robert Carter and Jack Greenberg from the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.

of the two races before the law, but in the nature of things it could

In 1954, the Supreme Court of the United States was confronted with the controversial Brown v. Board of Education case that challenged segregation in public education. Brown v. Board of Education was a landmark Supreme Court case because it called into question the morality and legality of racial segregation in public schools, a long-standing tradition in the Jim Crow South, and threatened to have monumental and everlasting implications for blacks and whites in America. The Brown v. Board of Education case is often noted for initiating racial integration and launching the civil rights movement. In 1951, Oliver L. Brown, his wife Darlene, and eleven other African American parents filed a class-action lawsuit against the Board of Education

The Brown v. Board of Education Court Case served as a highlighted issue in black history. Brown v. Board help different races comes together in public schools. This case became very big 1950s lots of attention was drawn to the case at that time. News reporter and critics had different views and opinions about this case. This case in 1954 causes lots of issues and views towards the black race. The quote “separate but equal” is vital due to “Plessy v. Ferguson” and the famous lawyer Thurgood Marshall who argued this case, and the success of this case itself.

Brown V. Board of Education is commonly considered the most important case to date regarding education and civil rights. Education as we know it, would be completely different if The Supreme Court had not ruled in favor of the plaintiffs. I am confident that another case would have come along and changed it later had they not won this case. History would be completely different regarding the war on Civil Rights if things had gone differently. Until this case, many states implemented laws mandating separate schools for white and black students. This historical case made the previous laws established during the former Plessy V. Ferguson case unconstitutional.

The Supreme Court’s ruling did not take into account the majority opinion in Plessy versus Ferguson. Had it done so, the outcome would have been quite different. In the case of Plessy versus Ferguson, it was clear that there was some bias. Not only did it restore white supremacy but it violated the Fourteenth Amendment as well. This is because black facilities were undoubtedly unequal to those of the whites for that the white facilities were made with more quality, to say the least. Many whites were elated when the separate but equal facilities’ ruling was put into effect. For them, it was another moment to prove that the blacks were inferior. Though Kansas is not a southern state, members of the Supreme Court knew that many racists were going to be upset had the plaintiffs won. However, they did not let that hinder the outcome of the case. Because they knew what was right is right and what is wrong is wrong, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs. The opinion was that, “Today it is a principal instrument in awakening the child to cultural values, in preparing him for later professional training, and in helping him to adjust normally to his environment…” They go on to say, “Does segregation of children in public schools solely on the basis of race… deprive the children of the minority group of equal educational opportunities? We believe that it does.” They go on to explain that to separate others solely because of race places a sense of

Education is a privilege. This remains true, even as I sit in one of the most grueling lectures of my life and ask myself questions like, "When am I ever going to use this in real life?" or "Can it be lunch already?" We often believe that education is a right. However, when something is not accessible to all, it is a privilege, not a right.

Education was one of things that every parent wanted for their children regardless of whatever situation they were in. Public schools were segregated. In 1954 there was a lawsuit that ended legal segregation in public schools known as Brown V. Board of Education. In the fall of 1950, the NAACP sued on behalf of third-grader Linda Brown of Topeka, Kansas (Gates, 2013, p.323). Brown’s parents lived near a white school and wanted their daughter to attend that school because it was closer to their home than any other school that was around them. Thurgood Marshall was one of the lawyers for the NAACP during the time and argued that segregation condemns children, thinking that they lower than the whites that the Court had supposedly threw out in the Plessy case. The Court also heard from other families that were going through the same situation as Brown. May 17th, 1954, the Court ruled in favor of the black students. This decision allowed blacks to attend any public school that they