NAME OF THE CASE: Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, 1954
FACTS: Linda Brown, an African American third grader applied for admission to an all-white public school, Sumner Elementary, in Topeka, Kansas and was refused by the board of education of Topeka. A class action lawsuit, represented by NAACP lawyers, was filed in 1951 in the United States District Court for the District of Kansas. This case consolidated the four other cases filed in separate states, all having in common African American children denied admission to segregated, all-white public schools based on race.
ISSUE: Whether the separate but equal principle violates the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment.
RULE: The court concluded that the segregation of African American school children “generates a feeling of inferiority as to their status in the community that may affect their hearts and minds in a way unlikely ever to be undone.”
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In a 1950 case, Sweatt v. Painter, desegregation had already existed in the previously segregated University of Texas Law School because there were no separate but equal facilities in Texas. Segregation of the races was not an agreement made by both blacks and whites, but a decision made only by whites to continue to oppress African Americans after they were granted the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendment.. The separate but equal principle masqueraded as providing equal treatment to blacks and whites but instead perpetuated inferior accommodations, service, and treatment to black Americans. Linda Brown was forced to walk six blocks to get to her bus stop to ride to Monroe Elementary while Sumner Elementary, a white school, was seven blocks from her
The court reasoned that separate but equal was an improper measure because it only factored physical factors. Even if the buildings and staff and books were the same, there are effects on nonphysical elements to consider. Children are unable to learn effectively because they are unable to share their ideas with equal minded peers. Segregation implies black inferiority which negatively impacts the development and self-esteem of black schoolchildren.
In 1849 the issue of segregation within schools was brought to the stand, and arguments about how it should not be legal. In the case, Roberts vs. the City of Boston, The argument was made that segregation in school was a direct violation of the 14th amendment in the constitution. The 14th amendment was said to protect the rights of citizens equally and segregation did not go along with the amendment. The opposing side said the commonly known quote “separate, but equal”, and claimed that segregation was not in opposition to the 14th amendment and was therefore not illegal.
Board of Education” case. This case took place in 1954, in Topeka, Kansas. Linda Brown was a third grader, who had to walk a mile every day in order to get to her segregated school. She lived 7 blocks away from an all white school. Her father decided to put the schoolboard on trial. Linda’s parents were very well respected in their community. This shows this no matter what your character was in that time, court trials will go against you because of your skin color. The case became a class action suit, involving 5 states; therefore, reaching the supreme court. It was a major landmark in the reversing of the longtime of legal segregation. Chief Justice Earl Warren wrote on May 17th, 1954 that segregation “generates a feeling of inferiority as to their status in the community that may affect their hearts and minds in a way unlikely to be undone” (People & Events). The statement “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal” was a push for black rights movements. In the Tom Robinson case, even though he was found guilty, the jury had to think a little bit longer about his verdict. It was a step in the right direction, as the “Brown V Board of Education” trial was. Both trials focused around legal and internal racism. Brown V Board of education was more of a civil justice issue, while Tom Robinson’s case was based on false accusation. This situation is similar to Tom’s because both Linda and Tom were
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.
Education case, the Supreme Court held that separate was innately unequal, and that the very process of separating one group of children from another is detrimental. Chief Justice Earl Warren states that "to separate black children from others group of similar age and qualifications solely because of their race generates a feeling of inferiority as to their status in the community that may affect their hearts and minds in a way unlikely ever to be undone." Consequently, the court ordered that America’s schools must set about the task of integration "with all deliberate speed."
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
Writing for the court, Chief Justice Earl Warren argued that the question of whether racially segregated public schools were inherently unequal, and thus beyond the scope of the separate but equal doctrine, could be answered only by considering “the effect of segregation itself on public education.” Citing the Supreme Court’s rulings in Sweat v. Painter (1950), and McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education (1950), which recognized “intangible” inequalities between African American and all-white schools at the graduate
The Supreme Court’s ruling did not take into account the majority opinion in Plessy versus Ferguson. Had it done so, the outcome would have been quite different. In the case of Plessy versus Ferguson, it was clear that there was some bias. Not only did it restore white supremacy but it violated the Fourteenth Amendment as well. This is because black facilities were undoubtedly unequal to those of the whites for that the white facilities were made with more quality, to say the least. Many whites were elated when the separate but equal facilities’ ruling was put into effect. For them, it was another moment to prove that the blacks were inferior. Though Kansas is not a southern state, members of the Supreme Court knew that many racists were going to be upset had the plaintiffs won. However, they did not let that hinder the outcome of the case. Because they knew what was right is right and what is wrong is wrong, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs. The opinion was that, “Today it is a principal instrument in awakening the child to cultural values, in preparing him for later professional training, and in helping him to adjust normally to his environment…” They go on to say, “Does segregation of children in public schools solely on the basis of race… deprive the children of the minority group of equal educational opportunities? We believe that it does.” They go on to explain that to separate others solely because of race places a sense of
The Brown v. Board of Education was a case that was initiated by members of the local NAACP (National association Advancement of Colored People) organization in Topeka, Kansas where thirteen parents volunteered to participate of the segregation during school. Parents took their children to schools in their neighborhoods in the summer of 1950 and attempted to enroll them for the upcoming school year. All students were refused admission and were forced to attend one of the four schools in the city for African Americans. For most parents and students, this involved traveling some distance from their homes. These parents filed suit against the Topeka Board of Education on behalf of their twenty children. Oliver Brown who was a minister, was the first parent to suit against the problem, so the case came to be named after his last name. Three local lawyers, Charles Bledsoe, Charles Scott and John Scott, were assisted by Robert Carter and Jack Greenberg from the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.
The Browns, an African American Family living in Topeka, Kansas, along with the NAACP requested an injunction that would forbid the segregation of Topeka's public schools. This along with similar cases were grouped together and presented in front of the Supreme Court (Cray 1-2). On May 17, 1954, Chief Justice Warren read the decision of the unanimous Court: "We come then to the question presented: Does segregation of children in public schools solely on the basis of race, even though the physical facilities and other "tangible" factors may be equal, deprive the children of the minority group of equal educational opportunities? We believe that it does...We conclude that in the field of public education the doctrine of 'separate but equal' has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal. Therefore, we hold that the plaintiffs and others similarly situated for whom the actions have been brought are, by reason of the segregation complained of, deprived of the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment” (Schwartz, 198). The Supreme Court struck down the "separate but equal" doctrine of Plessy for public education, ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, and required the desegregation of schools across America (Cray, 1-2) .
The five reports of school segregation separately went to local courts with no avail. The cases then appealed to the Supreme Court, where they were pooled under the title “Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas”. (Good, 31, 32) (Davidson et al. 850)
After World War II, the NAACP continued to challenge segregation in the courts. From 1939 to 1961, the NAACP’s chief counsel and director of its Legal Defense and Education Fund was an African American attorney Thurgood Marshall. And Marshall focused his efforts on ending segregation in public schools. Brown Vs the Board of education involved a young African American girl named Linda Brown, who was denied admission to her neighborhood school in Topeka, Kansas, because of her race. She was told to attend an all-black school across town. With the help of the NAACP, her parents then sued the Topeka school board. On May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional and violated the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Chief Justice Earl Warren summed up the Court’s decision, declaring: “In the field of public education, the doctrine of separate but equal has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.” Brown Vs the Board of education made access to equal education a reality for the many Southern and Northern African Americans who began attending integrated schools in the wake of the act’s
On May 17, 1954 the Supreme Court’s unanimous decision was read: “We come then to the question presented: Does segregation of children in public schools solely on the basis of race, even though the physical facilities and other “tangible” factors may be equal, deprive the children of the minority group of equal educational opportunities? We believe that it does.” The Supreme Court diminished the idea of ‘separate but equal’ and showed it had no place public education.
Racial discrimination has been a predominant issue in American culture for numerous centuries. This issue was especially heightened during the 1950s in the south. The state of Virginia led the way for desegregated schools when African American families protested unfair conditions. This brought about a lawsuit which travelled through the judicial system, all the way to the Supreme Court. This lawsuit contributed to the ruling of Brown v. Board of Education Topeka, Kansas, which determined that “separate but equal” facilities are fundamentally unequal.
Education was one of the major rights African Americans were denied throughout history. Linda Brown and many other African Americans were denied the right to attend any all-white schools near their houses. Instead of attending a school near their houses, they were forced to travel extreme distances to attend elementary school. While if you were a white child you were granted the right to travel a small distance to receive schooling. To resolve this problem Linda and her father went to the supreme court to sue Kansas for having a segregated school system. The NAACP stepped in and ruled that having segregated schools rejected blacks the right to have “equal protection” ,which is in the 14th amendment. The NAACP also argued that the African-American children felt as if they were not good enough or at the same level as others to attend school with the white children. The Supreme Court decided to rule in favor of the Browns and declared it illegal to have segregation in public schools.