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The Argument Against School Segregation

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A woman boards a segregated ferry that will take her across the Mississippi River. The Supreme Court’s unanimous decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas superseded the “separate but equal” precedent in public education that was set by the Supreme Court in 1896. The Court’s opinion was delivered by Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren, finding that racial segregation was “inherently unequal,” even if the tangible facilities, such as school buildings, were considered comparable. Furthermore, the Court stated that racial segregation in public schools was a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and therefore unconstitutional. Besides unanimously concluding that separation based on race was …show more content…

This included literacy tests and the Grandfather Clause. Question: How do the Civil and Voting Rights Acts build upon the rights granted in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution? Freedom Songs served as the collective voice of the movement. The songs created a mobilizing soundtrack to the fight for equal rights and were sung during many of the major events of the time. The beauty and strength of these songs was in the energy they provided for massive groups of revolutionists as they sat in church meetings or marched in the streets for freedom and desegregation. Many had their roots grounded in hymnals, spirituals, gospel, and rhythm and blues, with lyrics adapted to reflect current challenges and goals. Singing groups such as the Freedom Singers from Albany, Georgia, and the Staple Singers from Chicago, Illinois, would travel throughout the country and introduce freedom songs to activists nationwide. The Freedom Singers even toured to raise funds for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. “We Shall Overcome” was an unofficial anthem for the Civil Rights Movement. It was first sung by tobacco workers on strike in Charleston, South Carolina. The song has also been used around the world by civil rights movements in China, South Africa, and Ireland. “Ain’ Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me ‘Round” was one of the songs that the Freedom Riders sang during their incarceration at Parchman Penitentiary in Mississippi. After guards threatened to take

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