The Importance of Brown V. The Board of Education
To understand the importance of Brown V. The Board of Education of Topeka, one must take into account the gravity of the prevailing law and attitude that existed in 1954. In 1896, the Supreme Court established the "separate but equal" doctrine in the case of Plessy V. Ferguson. Essentially the court was saying that blacks should be treated equally but due to an obvious difference, race, blacks could be treated equally but separate.
Justice Henry Brown wrote in his majority opinion; "The object of the Fourteenth Amendment was undoubtedly to enforce the absolute equality of the two races before the law, but in the nature of things it could
…show more content…
In fact a series of cases from Kansas, South Carolina, Virginia and Delaware all found their way to the Supreme Court. But a distinguished attorney with the NAACP named Thurgood Marshall brought Linda Browns case to prominence.
By this time, Thurgood Marshall was an experienced Supreme Court advocate. He had already challenged all white primary elections in Smith V. Allwright, and restrictive covenants in Shelley V. Kraemer. His style was straightforward and plainspoken. He held no punches and got to his point without a lot of dramatics. When asked for a definition of the word "equal" by Justice Felix Frankfurter, Marshall replied, "Equal means getting the same thing, at the same time, and in the same place."2 This was the basis of his case.
Chief Justice Earl Warren presided over the case, and on May 17, 1954 decided in Brown's favor. In a brief, unanimous opinion delivered by Warren, the Court declared that; "separate education facilities are inherently unequal"3 and that racial segregation violates the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment, thus overruling the Plessy case. Many Americans praised Warren's decision agreeing that in
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.
Brown vs Board of Education was the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement because the African Americans were starting to rebel against the government. They just wanted civil rights and be normal. The National Association of Advanced Colored People (NAACP) began working harder and harder for civil rights after. Additionally, this was the first major event in the movement, so it must have been the beginning. As said before, the African Americans were lashing out to the government because of this, thinking that this was their time to shine and tell the world what they want. Brown v. Brown of Education was the booster that helped the Africans Americans reach to the top.
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.
"'The Supreme Court decision [on Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas] is the greatest victory for the Negro people since the Emancipation Proclamation,' Harlem's Amsterdam News exclaimed. It will alleviate troubles in many other fields.' The Chicago Defender added, this means the beginning of the end of the dual society in American life and the system of segregation which supports it.'"
For much of the ninety years preceding the Brown case, race relations in the U.S. had been dominated by racial segregation. This policy had been endorsed in 1896 by the United States Supreme Court case of Plessy v. Ferguson, which held that as long as the separate facilities for the separate races were "equal," segregation did not violate the Fourteenth Amendment ("no State shall... deny to any person... the equal protection of the laws.")
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, in the Supreme Court case of Brown v. Board of Education, the High Court, for the first time in American legal history, challenged the “separate but equal” doctrine previously established in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) and outlawed racial segregation in public schools. The decision, igniting fierce debates throughout the country, was met with violence and strong defiance in the South. The years after Brown, however, saw the passing of several important Acts: the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968. Today, Americans remember Brown v. Board of Education as a success in African Americans’ struggle for equal rights, a change of sea tide for the civil rights movement. While
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
The court case known as the Brown v. the Board of Education is notorious for the fight against educational segregation. The court case fought to show the people that “separate” cannot be “equal”. Things such as “The Doll Test and the Fourteenth Amendment” both reveal the truths about how exactly “seperate” cannot be “equal”.
During the late nineteen fifties, the Supreme Court made a shocking ruling in a case called Brown v. Board of Education that created an uproar all across the country: segregation in schools was now illegal. Blacks and whites were finally allowed to learn together and were enthusiastic to receive a higher quality education in better schools. However, not everyone was in favor of this new law. Governor Orval Faubus of Little Rock, Arkansas, repudiated the new desegregation law and called the National Guard to ward off nine African American students from enrolling themselves in what used to be an all white high school on September 4, 1957 (Anderson 2). This historical event was known as the Little Rock Nine and was notable because the nine African
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.
Sixty-two years ago, the Supreme Court ruled the “separate but equal” doctrine unconstitutional. The decision from the Plessy v. Ferguson case was lawfully denounced by the Brown v. Board of Education. The Brown case, which was initiated by the members of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), served as a stimulus for challenging segregation in all areas of society, especially in public educational institutions. Among the support for the desegregation in school systems, there was a young yet compelling voice who was heard by numerous ears in the rural city in Farmville, Alabama. The virtuous and determined Barbara Johns, who was only a high school student then led her tiny, hovel-like school’s student body and the Farmville community to file a lawsuit in the hope of terminating the inequality in regards to the educational system.
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.
The court established that the “separate-But-Equal doctrine in America was not constitutional. The fourteenth amendment was being ignored, so the case was reargued to get to an agreement. The ruling established that all colored people could attend to white schools. Now everyone is everyone was equal according to the new act. Segregation was not longer valid in the United States and that separate –But-Equal was erased of the schools. Central High School in Little Rock Arkansas reacted really badly to the desegregation of Schools. White students from this high school harassed, humiliated, and discriminated the new students that at that time were a small amount. The students would spit to the black students, would called them names and more bad
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.