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Critical Component Of The Civil Rights Movement

Decent Essays

The first critical component of the civil rights movement is the BROWN v. BOARD OF EDUCATION Supreme Court case in 1954. This case is of vital significance because it overturned the“separate but equal” clause that was previously established by the Supreme Court Decision of 1896, PLESSY v. FERGUSON. The aforementioned case is about Linda Brown, a black girl, who was denied the opportunity to attend a white elementary school that was very close to her house. Linda had to travel a long distance to an all-black school. This unfair treatment eventually prompted the the Supreme Court to order desegregation of public schools. From that time onward, the ripple effect of this case continue through all generations as it forms a bedrock for peaceful coexistence among people of divers races and backgrounds. …show more content…

The tenets of the customary “Jim Crow” law stipulates that a black should yield his or her bus seat to a white passenger whenever the need arises. However, it was obvious that the blacks were determined to go against the norm of segregation that was prevalent in the 40’s, hence their resistance. In 1955, a black woman was arrested because she refused to yield her bus seat to a white passenger. In protest, blacks resorted to bus boycott, car pooling, walking, bike-riding etc. The bus company slip under economic pressure while some downtown stores were forced out of business due to the boycotts. The positive impact of this boycott is that, it instigated the Supreme Court to declare segregation in public transportation unconstitutional. Consequently, the bus companies changed their sitting policy to “first come, first served” (Patterson,

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