Gender Neutral Colors

One of the most prevalent themes throughout the world’s history is the dispute over race and racial differences. But, there is a problem: the majority of the population doesn’t have a clear understanding of what race is. Race is a socially constructed grouping of people that was created in order for people to differentiate themselves from one another and has many sources of influence. While most people believe race is determined by biological characteristics (hair type, skin color, eye shape, etc.), this is not true. To make things more complicated, there is no cut and dry definition to race. Authors of Race and Ethnicity in Society, Elizabeth Higginbotham and Margret Anderson, claim that there are seven different distinct ways to define race. They begin with the popular belief of biological characteristics, and, as mentioned before, through social construction. They go on to note that race can be formed from an ethnic group, from social class rank, from racial formation by institutions, and also can form from one’s self-definition (Higginbotham & Anderson, 2012, p. 13). All of these ways to define race have been seen throughout our history, and many of them have caused problems for minorities, especially in the United States.

Plessy v. Ferguson , a very important case of 1896 in which the Supreme Court of the United States upheld the legality of racial segregation. At the time of the ruling, segregation between blacks and whites already existed in most schools, restaurants, and other public facilities in the American South. In the Plessy decision, the Supreme Court ruled that such segregation did not violate the 14th Amendment of the Constitution of the United States. This amendment provides equal protection of the law to all U.S. citizens, regardless of race. The court ruled in Plessy that racial segregation was legal as long as the separate facilities for blacks and whites were “equal.”

The primary goals of the movement were to end segregation across America, desegregate schools and other public facilities, reverse to notion “separate but equal”, and achieve overall equality. Shortly after the Fourteenth amendment was passed, America erupted with opinions due to the Plessy v. Ferguson decision. Plessy v. Ferguson was a U.S. Supreme Court case that supported the right for states to pass laws allowing racial segregation in public and private institutions such as schools, public transportation, restrooms, etc. The Plessy v. Ferguson case was important in the course of United States history, because its outcome upheld the belief that racial segregation was legal under the "separate but equal" doctrine. The Court held segregation as legal under the Fourteenth Amendment, Equal Protection Clause. The clause explained that "no state shall... deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."(Equal Protection Clause 1868) The decision validated the action of segregation and the proliferation of the Jim Crow laws. This was a major part of what the Civil Rights movement of the 1950's & 60's hoped to terminate. Ultimately, Plessy v. Ferguson, (1896) was rescinded by Brown v. Board of Education, 347 US 483

students into all white and all black schools (Brown v. Board of Education, 1954). Before this ruling, Plessy v. Ferguson allowed for segregation stating it was alright as long as the students were treated equally (Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896). The problem with this, is that they were not. Black students were forced to ride buses to schools that were far away from where they lived and lacked funds for needed supplies to give a quality education. This demonstrated that while separate, the schools and the education being given, were not equal

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark United States Supreme Court case in which the Court declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students to be unconstitutional. The decision overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896, which allowed state-sponsored segregation, insofar as it applied to public education. Handed down on May 17, 1954, the Warren Court 's unanimous (9–0) decision stated that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal." As a result, de jure racial segregation was ruled a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. This ruling paved the way for integration and was a major victory of the Civil Rights Movement.[1] However, the decision 's fourteen pages did not spell out any sort of method for ending racial segregation in schools, and the Court 's second decision in Brown II only ordered states to desegregate "with all deliberate speed".

There were those in positions of authority that chose to ignore the stipulations of the newly establish amendments. Between 1873 and 1883 during the Reconstruction era, the US Supreme Court handed down a series of decisions with the purpose of rendering the work of Congress void. Because of these decisions, blacks were separated from whites by law and by private action in transportation, public area accommodations, recreational facilities, prisons, armed forces, and schools in Northern and Southern states. In 1896, the Supreme Court sanctioned legal separation of races by its ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson, which held that having separate but equal facilities was not a violation of the Fourteenth

Racial equality is perhaps the most prominent aspect of civil rights and the one that has undergone the most changes since the Bill of Rights and the Constitution were first devised. One of the first major developments concerned the Civil War Amendment, which outlawed slavery. Future court rulings included the 1896 ruling of Plessy v. Ferguson, which established strict segregation between races under the title of "separate but equal." The ethos of Plessy v. Ferguson was reversed in 1954 with the case of Brown v. Board of Education, which ended segregation and resulted in the racial integration of schools. More recently, in 1991, the court listed strict desegregation in the case of Darrell v. Oklahoma City.

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

Black people did not have the access to the freedoms that white people have; they could not eat, drink, learn, and be in the same vicinity as white people; Jim Crow laws were legal ways that white politicians and leaders kept black people from their “precious” white families and citizens. These laws enforced racist ideologies while appearing to be inclusive to “colored people”. In the court case Plessy vs Ferguson, a black man was arrested for refusing to give his seat to a white man; he argued that the law was unconstitutional and went against the fourteenth amendment; however, the case concluded in favor of the law, and Jim Crow laws remained in use (History). Later, in the Brown vs Board law proceeding, after years of indecision, the judge, Chief Justice Warren proclaimed, "we conclude that in the field of public education the doctrine of 'separate but equal' has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal. . ." (Quoted History). Previously, schools had been segregated solely by the idea that black and white children could be taught in separate schools, but they would be equal; Warren criticized the concept because the students never had equal and fair experiences. After the government abolished Jim Crow laws, leaders searched for a new system to police black people, and the War on Drugs became their new strategy.

However, those that favor judicial restraint on the other hand, and thus favor the status quo and the strict construction of the Constitution are conservatives and Republicans. Two landmark Supreme Court decisions that strictly interpreted the Constitution for its literal meaning were Dred Scott v. Sanford and Plessy v. Ferguson. In the Dred Scott case, the Supreme Court ruled that African Americans did not have the right to sue for their freedom, since they were seen strictly by the law as property and not even citizens of the United States. As well, in Plessy v. Ferguson the Court ruled that segregation of public schools was not unconstitutional, even though African Americans were still seen as equal citizens due to the 14th Amendment to the Constitution ("separate but equal"). However, this particular case was then overturned by Brown v. Board of Education, Topeka, Kansas in 1954. The Brown decision, unlike that of Plessy v. Fergusion and Dred Scott v. Sanford expressed judicial activism and ruled racial segregation unconstitutional.

One of the cases against segregated rail travel was Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), in which the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that "separate but equal" accommodations were constitutional. However, in 1952, the Supreme Court heard a number of school-segregation cases, including Brown v. Board of Topeka, Kansas. It decided unanimously in 1954 that segregation was unconstitutional, overthrowing the 1869 Plessy v. Ferguson ruling that had set the "separate but equal" precedent.

Gender is defined as the state of being male or female. In most instances, this state is determined based on the biology of an individual’s genitalia. Those born

To many people across a variety of different nationalities and cultures, race has been proven to be a key factor for how society views you in the eyes of those who are prominently in charge. The term race has been brought up in recent years, to be considered a form of identification, as the word race is used to describe physical characteristics such as a person’s color of skin, hair, and eyes. When in reality, the correct term they should be using is Ethnicity. As a result, the term race is used to separate people into sub-categories based on the color of their skin. This type of classification, is a man-made creation used by society to classify certain groups of people into lower classes, while keeping the predominate group in charge at the top.

In the modern society, most scientists deny the notion of race as a valid biological way of categorizing humans. Human beings are not defined by the so-called “race” because race, generally speaking, does not exist. Human beings look different based on our superficial appearances, however, it only distinguishes us from our hair color, skin color, cultural background and so on, not from the so-called race. Knowing someone's skin color does not absolutely tell us anything else about him or her except for what our eyes can directly see. In our textbook, the biological definition of the word “race” explains that race applies to humans with both cultural and biological factors. There is no physical trait or condition that distinguishes all the members

By the 19th century, many social forms of discrimination existed to keep Black Americans from being equal to White Americans. Laws like separate but equal where put into places to keep Black Americans from being in the same places as White Americans, like; neighborhoods, schools, churches, restaurants, and so on. White Americans also believed that Blacks should not have the right to vote; which led to many black movements for the continuous fight for equality in the nation of freedom. By 1954 the Brown vs. Board of Education case reversed the “separate but equal” doctrine that previously had been set in 1896, allowing children both White and Black children to attend the same schools and same classrooms. In