Important Cases: Brown Vs. Board Of Education

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.

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 Plessy V. Ferguson and Brown V. Board of Education are two cases that changed the way that we live today in a quite dramatic way. The Plessy V. Ferguson was a case that promoted segregation. The majority voted for segregation and the minorities opposed the idea and the key precedent that was established after this case was that the U.S. Supreme Court didn't base their trial off of the constitution and instead based their trial upon the statement 'separate but equal'. The Brown V. Board of Education case was a case that completely opposed the idea of 'separate but equal' because the whole case revolved around the fact that a mother wanted her children to go to a school that was easier to get to however it was a school that was only for white children so the mother decided to take the case to court and the majority voted on letting the African American students attend white schools and the minorities voted otherwise. The key precedent that was established after this case was that segregation in schools violates the 14th amendment and it should not be permitted by the U.S. Supreme Court. These two cases were important for the transformation for the America we have today, and they influenced America's thought process and actions significantly.

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.

Because of a brave young girl and her father being bold enough to stand up for their rights by trying to apply the 14th Amendment this was all possible. “Linda Brown was born on February 20, 1942, in Topeka, Kansas. Because she was forced to travel a significant distance to elementary school due to racial segregation, her father was one of the plaintiffs in the case of Brown v. Board of Education, with the Supreme Court ruling in 1954 that school segregation was unlawful”("Linda Brown Biography," ). She was 8 years old at the time when all of this happened. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People(NAACP) worked along side with her and her father to seek justice for this case. People of color’s thoughts and feeling

Plessy v. Ferguson was a case that stopped all public places to allow business to any black people. When the case was announced, immediately businesses took action and started to put up signed that read "Whites Only" and "No Blacks." The town started to have segregated areas pop up everywhere. For example, every water fountain had one for the white people and one for the black people. This occurred with every bathroom, restaurant, or any other public place. While many states followed this case others didn't.

The Background: The police were suspicious of Dollree Mapp hiding a person suspected in a bombing. They went to her house and demanded entrance, but Mapp would not let them in because they did not have a warrant. The police broke into her house and found evidence of crime. At the trial, the police could not show their warrant at the U.S. Supreme Court.

Many people would say that the constitution is a living, breathing document. I agree with those people. Living people adapt to fit into today’s society. Our constitution is the same way because throughout history, our constitution has changed in order to meet the demands and views of today’s society. There are many moments in history that prove this to be true ,such as court cases.

The story of Brown v. Board of Education, which ended legal segregation in public schools, is one of hope and courage. When the people agreed to be plaintiffs in the case, they never knew they would change history. The people who make up this story were ordinary people. They were teachers, secretaries, welders, ministers and students who simply wanted to be treated equally. Marshall personally argued the case before the Court. Although he raised a variety of legal issues on appeal, the most common one was that separate school systems for blacks and whites were inherently unequal, and thus violate the "equal protection clause" of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Furthermore, relying on sociological tests, such as the one performed

At the end of the Civil War the newly freed slaves now face a new source of oppression to their society. The court cases before the Brown vs the Board of education is an abundant amount of examples of oppression in the education reform.

Before the Brown vs. Board of Education case in Kansas, many of the segregated African American schools were struggling with a lack of school materials and outdated resources. Many attempts in the past were made to create equal opportunities for all children to pursue their education but failure was a common result. Due to this inequality, members of the NAACP decided to battle the “separate but equal” doctrine surrounding education. To initiate their plan, a group of parents attempted to enroll their children who went to a segregated school into the white school closest to their home and report back once they were denied admission into the white school. With this, the NAACP was able to have crucial evidence for the case. In Topeka, children had to travel further away from schools that were near them because they were designated to African American schools. Outside of Topeka, there were even more problems for African American students such as a facility that was not up to par and a need for basic necessities required for learning. All of these problems were taken into one case with the Topeka incident, which resulted in Brown vs. the Board of Education of Topeka. The US Supreme Court would later issue a unanimous decision stating that it was unconstitutional to segregate children in public schools because of their race. This was a key decision that made history in the movement to create a fair and equal opportunity for all students wanting an education.

Brown vs. Board of education of Topeka was a supreme court case, 347 US. 483, where the court declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students to be unconstitutional. This had overturned the Plessy V. Ferguson decision, which had allowed for segregation in public schools. The decision came about because separate educational facilities are inherently unequal. This was seen as a violation of the equal protection of the 14th Amendment.

The two cases that went all the way to the Supreme Court were the Plessy v. Ferguson and the Brown v. The Board of Education. During these cases there were strong disagreements about racial segregation and how people shouldn’t be based on color. These two cases were based off the 14th Amendment of how people shouldn’t be judged. During the Plessy v. Ferguson case, there was a act called the Separate Car Act in 1890 which white and blacks had to be separated into different railroad cars. During the Brown v. Board of Education case, blacks and whites were separated into different schools. The black schools were mostly poor and the white schools were mostly wealthy. They finally noticed that there needed to be a change in racial segregation.

In universities and schools all over the United States, cases of inequality and discrimination are not uncommon. From gender discrimination, as in this case, to racial discrimination, as in Brown v. Board of Education, the issue has been addressed several times in court. However, this case is especially important in that it represents an issue that is not often relevant: discrimination against men.

The supreme court decided in Plessy v. Ferguson, 1986, that these people could separate themselves from the black people if they had equal things (Carson, 2016). This case created the “separate but equal” saying. These things include schools, bathrooms, and much more. Separate but equal had evidence that the facilities for blacks were not on par with those for whites but the supreme court ruled that it did not violate the fourteenth amendment (Carson, 2016). This case was a major setback for the progression of the relationship between black and white people after the civil war. It actually put this relationship in the gutter for a while instead of making things better.