Essay about Brown versus The Board of Education

Plessy v. Ferguson , a very important case of 1896 in which the Supreme Court of the United States upheld the legality of racial segregation. At the time of the ruling, segregation between blacks and whites already existed in most schools, restaurants, and other public facilities in the American South. In the Plessy decision, the Supreme Court ruled that such segregation did not violate the 14th Amendment of the Constitution of the United States. This amendment provides equal protection of the law to all U.S. citizens, regardless of race. The court ruled in Plessy that racial segregation was legal as long as the separate facilities for blacks and whites were “equal.”

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

The case “Plessy v. Ferguson” was a test of a Louisiana law’s constitutionality. It took 50 years to realize it, but the constitutionally and morally right way was to end segregation. This case was never about Plessy not being able to ride on a white only car on a train headed to Covington, Louisiana. It was about a group of black citizens trying to stop segregation from ever

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.

Furthermore, there was a young girl named Linda Brown who attended a school very far away from her house. On the other hand, there is a school not to far from her ,but it’s an all white school. So Linda Brown and her family took it to court saying that blacks not being able to go to any school is a violation of the 14th amendment. The lower courts shut them down so they appealed the case to the Supreme Court. The dissenting opinion was "We conclude that the doctrine of 'separate but equal ' has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal." —Chief Justice Earl Warren. This was the precedent that was established and the final decision.The majority opinion was “The "separate but equal" doctrine adopted in Plessy v. Ferguson has no place in the field of public education.(Find Law)”.Which means that they are saying that since the last case happened on a rail car and not public education it shouldn’t have

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”.

In 1896 the United States Supreme Court ruled that it was constitutionally legal to segregate African Americans with their white counterparts. In the court case of Plessy v. Ferguson an African American man in Louisiana named Homer Plessy refused to follow the mandated Jim Crow laws which enforced that African Americans have to sit in a designated area when riding on a train. Plessy argued that his fourteenth amendment right was violated equal-protection clause, which “prohibits the states from denying “equal protection of the laws” to any person within their jurisdictions”(Duignan, 2016). However, when Plessy’s case moved to the Supreme Court they ruled“ the object of the Fourteenth Amendment was to create "absolute equality of the two races before the law," such equality extended only so far as political and civil rights (e.g., voting and serving on juries), not "social rights" (e.g., sitting in a railway car one chooses) (McBride, n.d. ). As a result, Plessy v. Ferguson

In 1892 the Supreme Court ruled 7-1 against Homer Plessy, a one-eighth black man who fought to sit in a train car reserved for white people in Louisiana 1. Since he was not allowed to ride in said cars, his 14th amendment right against discrimination of any American citizen was violated 1. The Supreme Court rejected Plessy's argument that Louisiana law conflicted with the thirteenth amendment and the fourteenth amendment 1. The justices claimed however, that separation of races does not make someone feel

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

The State of Louisiana passed a law “that all railway companies carrying passengers in their coaches in this State shall provide equal but separate accommodations for the white and colored races by providing two or more passenger coaches for each passenger train … No person or persons, shall be admitted to occupy seats in coaches other than the ones assigned to them on account of the race they belong to.” The Plessy v. Ferguson case was brought before the high court to decide if Mr. Plessy civil rights under the Thirteenth and Fourteenth was violated when Plessy was assigned a seat in the black car and when he refused was subsequently arrested for violating the law. The court felt the Thirteenth Amendment was about abolishing slavery and involuntary servitude which the court proved was not applicable to apply to this case. Since the case Roberts v. Boston, 59 Mass. (5 Cush.) 198 (1850) the states had widely accepted the concept of separate but equal education system, and the separation of races in places of entertainment have become widely approved throughout the country. Based on these examples, the court felt no infringement of equal rights was inflicted on Mr. Plessy as stated in the Fourteenth Amendment. The Supreme Court affirms the lower courts ruling that Mr. Plessy civil rights were not

1) How did the majority opinion in the Supreme Court’s 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson decision legally shape race

The intellectual roots of Plessy v. Ferguson, the landmark United States Supreme Court decision upholding the constitutionality of racial segregation in 1896 under the doctrine of "separate but equal" were, in part, tied to the scientific racism of the era.[32][33] However, the popular support for the decision was more likely a result of the racist beliefs held by many whites at the time.[34] In deciding Brown v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court rejected the ideas of scientific racists about the need for segregation, especially in schools. The Court buttressed its holding by citing (in footnote 11) social science research about the harms to black children caused by segregated schools.

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.

This was truly a monumental case and a milestone in our country’s history. This one case gave birth to the Civil Rights Movement. It is hard to imagine what education would like today if the Plessy doctrine were still in effect today. Chief Justice Earl Warren is said to be the one who brought the court to their unanimous court decision on that monumental day. He said it best when he said “Even if the tangible factors of segregated schools are equal, to separate black children from others of similar age and qualifications solely on the basis of race, generates a feeling of inferiority with respect to their status in the community and may affect their hearts and minds in a way that is unlikely to ever be