Topeka Trip

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.

In 1951 schools were separated by skin color, or segregated. The Brown v. Board of Education trial was brought to court because a third-grader, Linda Brown, was not allowed to attend the elementary school that was closest to her house. She wa required to take the bus to school across town instead. In the trial the point that “Education for Negroes is almost nonexistent(13).” This is an example of how there were old problems in the Fourteenth Amendment that needed to be changed. Another issue that was brought up in the trial was that, “Segregation… has a tendency to retard the educational and mental development of negro children…(19).” Without the proper education at segregated

Board of Education, resulted in the overturning of the “separate, but equal” doctrine under the realization that separation is what took away the equality. In the early 1950s, schools in Topeka, Kansas segregated people by race, leaving Linda Brown and her sister to walk through a hazardous railroad switchyard to get to the bus stop for their school. There was a school closer to where they lived, however, it was an all white school. Linda and her family saw the segregation systems as a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment and took it to court. Federal district courts claimed the segregation was harmful to African American youths, however due to the similar qualities the all-black and all-white schools shared, it was deemed fully constitutional under the “separate, but equal” doctrine. The case was taken to the Supreme Court and the court expressed that even though the schools shared similar facilities, segregated schools could never be equal. As such, the “separate, but equal” doctrine was overruled as it violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. This decision resulted in the precedent that any laws that segregated people, no matter how similar their facilities may be, was unconstitutional.(Paraphrased from www.streetlaw.org)

The Brown V. Board of Education was one of the biggest rulings that was made in the United States still to this day. After the slaves were given rights which happened because of emancipation proclamation many of the African American child were still going to all black schools. Over some time the Supreme Court ruled that black and white students are separate but equal. This means that black students had the same rights but they had to be in a different school than white students. The biggest problems of school separation occurred in the south. There was then a case, Brown V. Board of Education, that called school segregation unconditional. Many of the Governors from southern states rejected the ruling. When looking at the article that had changed

With all that said and done, segregation continued on until 1954 when the legendary Brown vs. Board of Education court case was brought to light. In this case five different representatives were brought to argue their case to the Supreme Court about how segregation should not be legal within schools. This class-action lawsuit was filed by the NAACP, the National

They had the right to be equal in everything, including where they learned. They had struggles they faced, they didn't have to face in white schools. The whole reason any of this even happened was because the students in both schools were supposed to be treated equally, as so stated in the Constitution. Parents of the students in the black schools were very upset about how their students were being treated in such settings. It was very unfair and violating the Constitution as it states. All students black or white should be treated equally. At one point in history, Governor Wallace said that no black student should ever be allowed into public schools. This was basically saying that African Americans were and always would be inferior to white people. This is one of the reasons many people wanted to take to the school and show them how unfairly their children were being

“We conclude that, in the field of public education, the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently equal.” This case began in Topeka, Kansas where an African American man grew upset with a white school, due to them not accepting his daughter’s admission and ordering her to attend a school further away. The NAACP quickly caught onto the case and supported it completely. The case was not successful at the district level but rose to the Supreme Court and won on May 17, 1954. (History- Brown) This hearing ended legal segregation in America. Brown v Board of Education was a revolutionary lawsuit as it furthered the civil rights movement in The United States as well as reforming America’s education system.

Legal school segregation in the South came into action in 1896, as a result of the Jim Crow Laws. These laws were derived from white Americans in an effort to ensure that blacks and whites lived separate lives. This physical divide formed an unequal gap in education, opportunity and lifestyle for African Americans. Known as Black Monday, the Brown v. Board of Education case was a milestone in American history that transformed the United States into an equal multiracial nation. The Brown v. Board of Education case ended segregation in public schools in the United States, allowing African American students to attend white only public schools and inspiring more African Americans to fight for complete desegregation in public areas, transportation and universities.

Starting in the 1950’s the NAACP began a campaign against the separate but equal laws, they brought a number of class action suites against the school boards, one of those suites being Brown v. Board of Education. Oliver Brown filed suite on behalf of his child, he claimed that Topeka school violated the Constitution's Equal Protection Clause. The case was brought to the federal district court but was thrown out on the grounds that the segregated public schools were "substantially" equal enough to be constitutional under the Plessy doctrine.

In 1954, the supreme court said that black can go to school with whites. The south declined. The south was willing to disobey the supreme court ruling by continuing segregation in the schools. In the late 1900s the battle of the civil rights will begin in the classroom in the case Brown vs Board of education. Brown vs Board of education is a case reserved by Kansas in which the court declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students to be unconstitutional. White schools [students] believed that using the tactic of violence will keep black children in black schools. At first it seemed as if the federal government will not intervene. The

The Supreme Court case of Brown v. Board of Education would probably not have been pursued had the segregated schools at the time been equal. But the term “equal” refers to a lot of things, not just to a single aspect such as the quality of teachers, buildings, supplies, etc. The schools could not have been equal because the social economic status of the parents, and therefore of the children were not equal. The schools for African American children had enormous resource shortages at that time. Socially and economic disadvantaged students require much greater resources than middle class white students to prepare for success in school. Expensive but necessary resources include high quality and affordable early childhood, after school and

To me, the trips to Thronakeeska and the Riverquarium were very interesting. There were definitely a lot of learning opportunities as well. This trip made me feel like I was a part of history itself. Overall, it made me feel like I was an important part of Albany’s history.

School is an environment where children, whether they are white or black, come to learn and enjoy being with their friends. School segregation shows that inequality and injustice are clearly obvious. The laws that were made are unfair because of how they portray the amount of fundings and equipment are given to all-white schools rather than all-black schools. The decision that the supreme court made called the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, was an attempt to outlaw segregation in schools. Many people tried to condemn the movement which sometimes led to violence. Segregation in schools make it harder for many black people to reach success in their life. Without the proper education and freedom to become what you want is an unfair advantage for white people to reach such high levels of success. All people should have the right to have a proper education and have the opportunity to become successful. This can only happen if segregation is

Kansas is a wonderful place to visit and enjoy your journey. Visit the Prairies and the Historic Sites in the state, and you will learn more about history while on the move for having a great

We woke up knowing this was the last day of our tour and it will not be an overly exciting one, as we are driving to Denver Airport which will take a big chunk of the day with nothing much to see in between. We finished off the cereal box and made our way to the coach for a group photo, I gave my camera to one the hotel employees but he didn't know where to push the button and we miss out, Brad emailed us another photo. About 10 or so seats were empty as some were going to Rapid City so we could spread out a little bit. Not far out of Keystone I noticed we had driven past Crazy Horse Memorial and quickly told Allyson to look out the window behind her, it was only last glimpse but still very special. To make the time pass a little quicker