Brown+vs.+Board+of+Education

Brown vs. Board of Education

1. ~Cases filed in Topkea Kansas ~Many Cases, only Brown's was the first alphabetically ~ Daughter was forced to walk 21 blocks to the nearest black school ~Good white school only 7 blocks away ~Several cases similar were filed ~Went all the way to the Supreme Court ~Case was that it was not enough to have equal schools, they should not be segregated ~ Defendant said that they are equal and that this will achieve prestige ~Case took 17 months ~The ruling was that in the field of education, the doctrine of separate but equal has no place ~This was a very meaningful moment for all the blacks ~"every American child has the right to an equal education." ~ **//Brown v. Board of Education// Legal Case Summary** **Place:** Topeka, Kansas
 * Grievance:** Segregated elementary schools, and the harmful psychological effects of segregation on African American children
 * Plaintiffs:** Oliver Brown and 13 other parents from Topeka
 * Decision:** A three-judge federal court ruled against the plaintiffs. The plaintiffs’ appeal reached the U.S. Supreme Court.

2. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">~ Equal protection of the laws did not allow for racial segregation. <span style="color: #1d1c14; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%; line-height: 22px;">~The Fourteenth Amendment allowed the government to prohibit any discriminatory state action based on race. <span style="color: #1d1c14; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%; line-height: 22px;">~The Fourteenth Amendment did not specify whether the states would be allowed to establish segregated education. <span style="color: #1d1c14; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%; line-height: 22px;">~Psychological testing demonstrated the harmful effects of segregation on the minds of African American children.

<span style="color: #1d1c14; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%; line-height: 22px;">3. <span style="color: #1d1c14; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%; line-height: 22px;">~The Constitution did not require white and African American children to attend the same schools. <span style="color: #1d1c14; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%; line-height: 22px;">~Social separation of blacks and whites was a regional custom; the states should be left free to regulate their own social affairs.~ <span style="color: #1d1c14; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%; line-height: 22px;">~Segregation was not harmful to black people. <span style="color: #1d1c14; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%; line-height: 22px;">~Whites were making a good faith effort to equalize the two educational systems. But because black children were still living with the effects of slavery, it would take some time before they were able to compete with white children in the same classroom.

<span style="color: #1d1c14; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%; line-height: 22px;">4. <span style="color: #1d1c14; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%; line-height: 22px;">In September 1953, Chief Justice Vinson died. Then President Dwight Eisenhower appointed Earl Warren as the new chief justice. It is said that the leadership brought by Warren was able to unanimously overturn //Plessy// case and rewrite history.

<span style="color: #1d1c14; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%; line-height: 22px;">5. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;"> <span style="font-family: georgia,serif;"> The decision was in favor of the African Americans. Though they said that the 14th Amendment did not go against the segregated schools but the Doctrine did not apply to the schools, only transportation. They said that education is very important and by segregating the schools they are taking away their equal protection by law and their due process of law. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;"> <span style="font-family: georgia,serif;"> This is the exact statement- <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;"> <span style="font-family: georgia,serif;">
 * || "Segregation of white and colored children in public schools has a detrimental effect upon the colored children. The impact is greater when it has the sanction of the law, for the policy of separating the races is usually interpreted as denoting the inferiority of the Negro group...Any language in contrary to this finding is rejected. We conclude that in the field of public education the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal." ||
 * ^  || —Earl Warren, Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court ||

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">6. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">This new ruling was supposed to be enforced with "deliberate speed" but it was not. But it took time for people to figure out how to do this, and in this time resistance was able to from. Some whites considered this an insult to their race so they went our and picked for it not to happen. This decision divided the nation.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">7. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">This was a major step for equality because if the black children can get a good education then they will be able to compete better for jobs and it will be harder for the employer to come up with a reason not to employ them. This layed the first path on the way to equality for everyone and the rights for the disabled and many more.