BROWN VS. BOARD OF EDUCATION
By Nicole H.
The Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution gives all citizens of America equal rights and protection under state and federal laws, no matter what race. However, the Jim Crow Laws separated the blacks from the whites in the beginning of the 1950s. If African Americans attempted to go against the Jim Crow Laws, they could be prosecuted or jailed. Racial segregation was mandatory due to law in the U.S. in 1896 in the court case Plessy v. Ferguson. The Supreme Court's decision of Plessy v. Ferguson was that all people are separate but equal. This doctrine lasted for sixty years, until the 1954 decision of Brown v. Board of Education.
The accusers in Brown v. Board of Education that tried to remove the "separate but equal" clause.
THE CASE
This court case all started when a man named Oliver Brown was told that his eight-year-old daughter was not able to attend the Topeka, Kansas neighborhood elementary school. She could not attend the school because Kansas law required African Americans to be in separate schools than the whites. Brown and a few other African American families joined together in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The outraged families were looking to file a lawsuit against the board of education of Topeka. Brown's reasoning was that the board of education's segregation was violating the Fourteenth Amendment for their children. For four consecutive years, the various families fought for their children's constitutional rights, but lost their case. They all decided to take the case to higher courts. In 1954, Brown v. Board of Education reached the U.S. Supreme Court.
Thurgood Marshall, the attorney who was later a Supreme Court justice, argued that the public schools that were segregating against African Americans were not equal and could not be made equal. Marshall concluded that the Fourteenth Amendment was violated. Marshall stated that the only way to maintain segregation would be to find a reason as to why whites are superior to blacks. The Supreme Court agreed with Marshall and overturned the separate but equal doctrine of Plessy v. Ferguson. They concluded that the infamous "separate but equal" clause was not to be used in the field of public education.
This court case all started when a man named Oliver Brown was told that his eight-year-old daughter was not able to attend the Topeka, Kansas neighborhood elementary school. She could not attend the school because Kansas law required African Americans to be in separate schools than the whites. Brown and a few other African American families joined together in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The outraged families were looking to file a lawsuit against the board of education of Topeka. Brown's reasoning was that the board of education's segregation was violating the Fourteenth Amendment for their children. For four consecutive years, the various families fought for their children's constitutional rights, but lost their case. They all decided to take the case to higher courts. In 1954, Brown v. Board of Education reached the U.S. Supreme Court.
Thurgood Marshall, the attorney who was later a Supreme Court justice, argued that the public schools that were segregating against African Americans were not equal and could not be made equal. Marshall concluded that the Fourteenth Amendment was violated. Marshall stated that the only way to maintain segregation would be to find a reason as to why whites are superior to blacks. The Supreme Court agreed with Marshall and overturned the separate but equal doctrine of Plessy v. Ferguson. They concluded that the infamous "separate but equal" clause was not to be used in the field of public education.
George Hayes, Thurgood Marshall, and James M. Nabrit celebrate the decision of the Supreme Court on Brown v. Board of Education in Washington D.C. in 1954.
REACTION
After the court decision, there were many heated opposing viewpoints. Shockingly, many states defied the new law. Ending segregation would not be easy. The upheaval that was caused due to Brown v. Board of Education caused the decision to be argued again over the issue of how to end segregation. In Brown v. Board of Education II, Chief Justice Earl Warren and the Supreme Court required courts to decide if the local schools were putting forth their best effort in order to desegregate public schools. The attempts from African American students to desegregate public schools caused many riots. President Dwight D. Eisenhower came to the conclusion that the American people were forced too quickly to integrate and offered no help. Even though there were still many obstacles to be conquered Brown v. Board of Education greatly affected the hearts and minds of African Americans and jump-started the civil rights movement.
After the court decision, there were many heated opposing viewpoints. Shockingly, many states defied the new law. Ending segregation would not be easy. The upheaval that was caused due to Brown v. Board of Education caused the decision to be argued again over the issue of how to end segregation. In Brown v. Board of Education II, Chief Justice Earl Warren and the Supreme Court required courts to decide if the local schools were putting forth their best effort in order to desegregate public schools. The attempts from African American students to desegregate public schools caused many riots. President Dwight D. Eisenhower came to the conclusion that the American people were forced too quickly to integrate and offered no help. Even though there were still many obstacles to be conquered Brown v. Board of Education greatly affected the hearts and minds of African Americans and jump-started the civil rights movement.