Brown+vs.+Board

**BROWN V. BOARD OF EDUCATION**

**What would break the back of Jim Crow America? What role did education play in the movement to desgregate America?**

**Using the links provided, analyze the landmark Supreme Court case** **//Brown v. Board of Education//** **. Cut and paste the information below into a new entry on your Unit 8 Online Notebook.**

**SETTING THE STAGE** - [|**Participate in The Road to Justice activity**]

**BASIC FACTS OF THE CASES** **(more than one) (check video, [|Link 1], [|Link 2] , [|Link 3] )** Make a bulleted list of the basic facts of the cases brought to the Supreme Court > > > >
 * Slavery was never legally established in Kansas
 * School segregation was permitted by local option, but only in elementary schools
 * African American parents and local activists from the NAACP challenged Topeka’s policy of segregated schooling.
 * They filed their case in U.S. District Court in 1951.//Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas// gave its name to the collection of cases that ended segregation in public schools.
 * NAACP attorneys argued that segregated schools violated the Fourteenth Amendment and harmed black students.
 * Judges conceded the damage caused by segregated education.
 * The local NAACP assembled a group of 13 parents who agreed to be plaintiffs on behalf of their 20 children.
 *  Following direction from legal counsel they attempted to enroll their children in segregated white schools and all were denied.
 * The Supreme Court combined five cases under the heading of //Brown// v. Board of Education, because each sought the same legal remedy. The combined cases emanated from Delaware, Kansas, South Carolina, Virginia and Washington, DC..
 * //Brown v. Board of Education// laid the foundation for shaping future national and international policies regarding human rights.
 * The //Brown// decision initiated educational and social reform which led to the modern Civil Rights Movement.
 * Supreme Court ruled that Brown had won and integration would begin in public schools.
 * Segregation was declared unconstitutional.

**MAIN ARGUMENTS OF THE PLAINTIFF** **(for integration) (check [|Link 1] )** List the major arguments of the plaintiffs
 * Supreme Court misinterpreted the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and equal protection of laws did not allow for racial segregation.
 * The fourteenth amendment allowed the government to prohibit any discriminatory state action based on race, including segregation in public schools.
 * fourteenth amendment did not specify whether the states would be allowed to establish segregated education.
 * Psychological testing demonstrated the harmful effects of segregation on the minds of African American children.

**MAIN ARGUMENTS OF THE DEFENDANTS** **(for segregation) (check [|Link 1] )** List the major arguments of the Defendants
 * The Constitution didn’t require white and african american children to attend the same schools.
 * Social separation of blacks and whites was a regional custom; the states should be left free to regulate their own social affairs.
 * Segregation was not harmful to black people.
 * 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.

**THE CHANGE IN THE COURT** **(leading to a decision) (check** [|**Link 1**] **)** What important change happened, and what was its impact? The Supreme Court decided to hear the Brown v. Board of Education Case in June of 1952. Deciding the case was very tough from the start. The differing social philosophies and temperaments divided the nine justices. Many justices doubted the constitutional authority of the court to end school segregation. In this, they worried that a decision to integrate schools might be unenforceable. In September, 1953, Vinson died and President Dwight Eisenhower appointed Earl Warren as chief justice. His leadership in producing a unanimous decision to overturn //Plessy// changed the course of American history. Earl Warren wrote the decision for the Court. He agreed with the civil rights attorneys that it wasn’t clear whether the framers of the Fourteenthth Amendment intended to permit segregated public education. Education was perhaps the most vital function of state and local governments, and racial segregation of any kind deprived African Americans of equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment and due process under the 5th Amendment. What did the Court decide? Supreme Court ruled that Brown had won. This decision was unanimous. They said that no one should be deprived the right of education. The African Americans were deprived of equal protection under the 14th Amendment and due process under the 5th Amendment. Because of the Brown decision, the system of legal segregation was unconstitutional.
 * THE COURT DECISION** **(in your own words) (check** [|**Link 1**] **and Link 2)**

The Court ordered only that the states end segregation with “all deliberate speed.” This gave segregationists the opportunity to organize resistance. Large numbers of white people considered this decision an assault on their way of life. Segregationists launched a militant campaign of defiance and resistance.
 * ENFORCING THE DECISION** **(discuss "with all deliberate speed) (Check [|Link 1] )**

**THE IMPACT and LEGACY** **(Check** [|**Link 1**] **)** What is the overall importance and legacy of //Brown v. Board// ? The Americans were split in half over the issue of racial equality. Many African Americans, however, enforced this decision. African American freedom struggle soon spread across the country. The original battle for school desegregation became part of broader campaigns for social justice. Fifty years after the //Brown// decision, the movement has come to include racial and ethnic minorities, women, people with disabilities, and other groups, each demanding equal opportunity. The African Americans, finally, got their freedom whether the white people