Personal Narrative Essay: Brown Vs. Board Of Education

Brown V. Board of Education is commonly considered the most important case to date regarding education and civil rights. Education as we know it, would be completely different if The Supreme Court had not ruled in favor of the plaintiffs. I am confident that another case would have come along and changed it later had they not won this case. History would be completely different regarding the war on Civil Rights if things had gone differently. Until this case, many states implemented laws mandating separate schools for white and black students. This historical case made the previous laws established during the former Plessy V. Ferguson case unconstitutional.

The book “Brown v. Board of Education: A Civil Rights Milestone and Its Troubled Legacy” by James T. Patterson is about the struggles leading up to the fight for the desegregations of public schools and the outcomes. The struggles accelerated to civil rights movement in the 1950s. Patterson describes in details about the difficult road to the Supreme Court, the outcome of the Supreme Court decision, the resistance by whites people, especially in the Deep South and the struggles to implement the challenging transition. Discriminatory practices were apparent in the United States but it was a lot worse in the Southern States. The Jim Crow Law mandated the segregation of public schools, public places, public transportations, restrooms, restaurants,

Walking into a lecture hall in Gregory Hall, I really didn’t know what to expect. I dressed as I would any other day; an Abercrombie shirt, a pair of frayed shorts and some casual sandals. I sat towards the front of the room and arrived slightly early to ensure a good seat. The name of this Brown v. Board education discussion was entitled, "Rethinking Slavery: 1800-1861,” and was arranged by the Mellon initiative.

of the two races before the law, but in the nature of things it could

This whole case is about differences that African Americans faced in this time period. They had certain things they could or could not do. They would have the poorer things than the whites. They would get the old supplies like the old books and everything else. They were really tired of being treated like they were secondhand people. They deserved to be treated better than that.

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

On May 17, 1954, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren delivered the unanimous ruling in the landmark civil rights case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas . State-sanctioned segregation of public schools was a violation of the 14th Amendment and was therefore unconstitutional. The 14th Amendment states; “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law, which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty or property, without due process of law; nor deny to

In 1954, the Supreme Court of the United States was confronted with the controversial Brown v. Board of Education case that challenged segregation in public education. Brown v. Board of Education was a landmark Supreme Court case because it called into question the morality and legality of racial segregation in public schools, a long-standing tradition in the Jim Crow South, and threatened to have monumental and everlasting implications for blacks and whites in America. The Brown v. Board of Education case is often noted for initiating racial integration and launching the civil rights movement. In 1951, Oliver L. Brown, his wife Darlene, and eleven other African American parents filed a class-action lawsuit against the Board of Education

On February 18, 1951 the case of Brown vs. Board of Education was filed causing a massive uproar across the nation. The hearing changed the way Americans viewed segregation and equality during the 1950’s. The Brown vs. Board of Education trial was important because it challenged American’s beliefs on segregation by testing American values such as racial discrimination, educational laws in America, and exposing that separation is not equal.

During the 1950s, the United States was on the brink of eruption. Not literally, of course, but in a sense yes. Though it had been about a century after slavery was abolished, African Americans in the United States were still being treated as second-class citizens. Separate but equal, as outlined in the landmark case Plessy versus Ferguson of 1896, became a standard doctrine in the United States law. This was a defeat for many blacks because not only were the facilities were clearly unequal, but it restored white supremacy in the South. It would be years before any sense of hope would come from another prominent landmark case victory.

I was very shy and awkward during my adolescent years. A cringe-worthy yet endearing moment of reflection of suppressed memories. I was the fourth child out of five, to two immigrant parents. We were a low income family with no budget for vacations or expensive school trips. Socially I was not accepted. I was always the outlier. Subsequently, I was bullied and it impaired my childhood for quite sometime. I felt as if I was sentenced to social death that I just could not replevy before the end of adolescent years. Other students taunted and jeered at me habitually; even with uncontrollable factors. I specifically remember my Haitian heritage being one of the domineering methods of my torture. I recall that being subjected

The Brown v. Board of Education Court Case served as a highlighted issue in black history. Brown v. Board help different races comes together in public schools. This case became very big 1950s lots of attention was drawn to the case at that time. News reporter and critics had different views and opinions about this case. This case in 1954 causes lots of issues and views towards the black race. The quote “separate but equal” is vital due to “Plessy v. Ferguson” and the famous lawyer Thurgood Marshall who argued this case, and the success of this case itself.

Brown v. Board of Education is a Supreme Court landmark case that establishes school segregation based on race is illegal. The decision that forbids segregation based on race has profound influence on Supreme Court’s later decisions. The influence of Brown also expands to affirmative actions cases, in which the standard of review was consistent with Brown’s (Strict Scrutiny). Although affirmative actions are aimed to remedy certain groups for past discrimination based on race, recent cases have illustrated that affirmative actions still have to be narrowly tailored to serve state’s compelling interest.

Petrella (2012) also notes that “The school-to-prison pipeline disproportionally targets youth of color and youth with disabilities for incarceration, as school policies may isolate them from their peer groups through expulsion, suspension, ineffective retention policies, transfers and high-stakes testing requirements.” There is a direct connection between being African American and lack of education because of learning difficulties that are not being addressed or missing school because of suspension or expulsion. The perception of being doomed from the start can directly interfere with motivation and drive towards a better future. Nittle (n.d.) notes that “Racism in the United States would not have thrived if institutions hadn’t perpetuated discrimination.” The despair of defeat at an early age is hard to crawl out of, without the added pressure of race.

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas was a milestone in American history, as it began the long process of racial integration, starting with schools. Segregated schools were not equal in quality, so African-American families spearheaded the fight for equality. Brown v. Board stated that public schools must integrate. This court decision created enormous controversy throughout the United States. Without this case, the United States may still be segregated today.