Supreme Court Case: Brown V. Board Of Education

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.

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

The Brown v. Board of Education of 1954 is known for desegregating public schools in the U.S. In 1954 the Supreme Court ruled “in the field of public education the doctrine of separate but equal had no place” (Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 1954). It was the 1st major educational policy. The Court’s decision in Brown created not just desegregation strategies, but also instructional approaches such as Title I programs, magnet schools, and bilingual and multicultural education (Contreras & Valverde, 1994).

The U.S is known for its liberty and equality. However, the Supreme Court once had to decide on the rights for African Americans. Since the abolishment of slavery, one court case before the Supreme Court sided against the African American plaintiff fighting for equal rights. In this case the plaintiff, Homer Plessy was arguing his right to ride in a "white only" train car. Unfortunately, he lost his case in Plessy vs Ferguson. Decades later, another plaintiff, Oliver Brown, also took a case before the Supreme Court. Conversely, in this case, the Supreme Court sided with the plaintiff in Brown vs Board of Education. This decision began the integration of schools. Despite the fact that these two cases took place almost 60 years apart, they both dealt with a similar issue.

The school that she wanted to go to was only five blocks away (Infoplease). The school board of Topeka instead assigned her to a school that was almost twenty-one blocks away. The Board of Topeka segregated their elementary schools based on the skin color of a person. When the parents of Linda Brown discovered that she was rejected from going to a school that was segregated, they filed a law suit to the Supreme Court (Infoplease).

The landmark case, which changed everything for minorities, was Brown v. Board of Education of 1954, which overturned Plessy v. Ferguson. It is apparent to note, that our first Black Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall played a pivotal role in the case. This case ended all desegregation of public schools all across the United States, in theory. Overall, things started looking better for minorities, but still discrimination existed and did not resolve many of the problems they still face. Mexicans were targeted as well during 1954, known as Operation Wetback, which allowed for the capture of foreign Mexicanos. In public schools, white teachers and black teachers began to earn equal pay, so the movement was effective, but how strong

Once the Supreme Court decided that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional and there would be no more segregation in schools it created a lot more diversity in all of the public schools. It helped a lot of African Americans go to schools and have equal access like all the other kids. Now a total of 85% of African Americans have a high school diploma which is almost equivalent to the 89% of white who have a high school diploma. Where in 1954 only 60% of African Americans had a high school diploma. Being able to have 25% more

The Background: In the 1950’s, schools were separated by race. Linda Brown and her sister had to walk down a dangerous railroad switchyard to get to the bus stop to their all-black elementary school. There was an all-white school closer to the Brown’s house, and the Brown family believed that segregated schools violated the Constitution.

Every morning, she had to walk 21 blocks to her all-black elementary school. (“Making History…” 1) This was already unfair since there was a better all white elementary school only 7 blocks away. This was because of Plessy v. Ferguson, a case from decades earlier, which made ‘separate but equal’ facilities legal. This allowed white Americans to discriminate, using the better schools, restaurants and even bathrooms. Most funding went to white people since there was very little black representation in the government. Not only was Linda unable to go to the closer school, yet the all-black school was much worse than the all-white school. Many school districts neglected their all-black schools, disobeying the Plessy v. Ferguson case of ‘separate but equal’. One case was especially unfair in Clarendon, South Carolina. Joseph De Laine Jr.’s school had “...10 teachers, almost 800 kids, and no indoor plumbing.” (“Making History…”1) Oliver Brown, Linda Brown’s dad, asked if his daughter could enroll in the closer all-white school since his daughter was walking so far to a worse school than the one near by. The principal refused and soon after, Brown ended up suing. (“Making History…”1) The case eventually ended up in Supreme court among many other controversial lawsuits in the country. This was a very important moment for minorities around the country as they had endured decades of unfair education. A black man was standing up made many people happy- and many people unhappy,

Board of Education case affected numerous other comparative cases as Mr. Brown's and on history itself. This case cased many individuals to see that the divisions between trainings was futile and did not help the student's instruction. Public places were segregated in the 1950s. African Americans were not permitted to go to a school or even attend any school event enhabited with white children. Plenty of black children had to travel long distances to get to their destination. Some walked miles, all the way across town in order to get to school. Parents like Linda Brown knew that this was not right and needed to change how the school system was operated. In Topeka, Kansas, an African American third grade girl had to walk very far to get to her school. Her father also knew things should change and went to court with many other black parents about the way the U.S District court was

The basic issue in Brown vs. Board of Education was the beginning of integration in the school system. Trial transcripts, interviews, meet the browns, and segregated Topeka will be used to support evidence and opinions in this paper. Due to the decisions made in The Brown vs. Board of Education it changed who could attend with diversity in schools and continues to change schools to this day. After reading this paper, it should show that all people should be treated equally. Just because a person’s skin color was different than another person’s doesn’t mean they should have had to go to another school or be treated any differently.

For many years, segregation was a problem for African- Americans, but eventually, enough was enough. Linda Brown, daughter of Oliver Brown, realized she had dealt with unreasonable forbiddance and that she should be able to attend school with people of all color. Brown v. Board of Education made people come to a conclusion that nobody should be segregated. With Jim Crow laws, Plessy v. Ferguson, and many other things that separated blacks from whites, they were unable to do the same way as people of any other color; Linda Brown’s case was taken to court and the law was passed that segregation would no longer be lawful, but it took a long period of time before the law was

Brown v. Board of education case took place in 1954. It is one of the most important cases in the American history of racial prejudice. The U.S. Supreme Court recognized separate schools for blacks and whites unconstitutional. This decision became an important event of struggle against racial segregation in the United States. The Brown case proved that there is no way a separation on the base of race to be in a democratic society.

There were two major court cases that further oppressed the African Americans in our country. The first major court case set the stage for the entire Jim Crow era: the Plessy v. Ferguson case. In 1896, in conjunction with the NAACP, Homer Plessy sat in the “white” car on a train. He had a light complexion but identified himself as colored. When he was arrested, the case made it to the Supreme Court. Plessy argued that segregated facilities violated the thirteenth amendment, which banned slavery, and the fourteenth