Brown+vs+Board+of+Education

=Brown v. Board of Education (1954)=

May 17th, 1954 - May 31st, 1955[[image:untitled.JPG width="605" height="206" align="right" caption="Left: Black public school, Right: White Public school"]]
//Fundamental decision// //in which the Supreme Court of Kansas established that segregation of schooling was unconstitutional.//

In 1896, the [|Plessey (Mulatto) vs. Ferguson (White)] //Case// established the "seperate but equal doctrine" in which public segregation of races in the form of Jim Crow laws was constitutionally valid. [|(U.S National Archives & RecordsAdministration, 2009).] This doctrine and ruling by the United States Supreme Court, allowed for African American children during the 1950's to attend run poorly run and maintained schools in comparison to white schools which were maintained in excellent condition. An alarming fact is that in 1949, the state expenditure on black students amounted to 27% of it expenditure on white students. (Anderson, Low and Keese, 2008).

In 1950, Linda Brown an 8 year old black student whom wanted to attend a segregated white school started the push by the [|NAACP] for the push against segregation in public places. Thus in 1951, The NAACP and its lawyer Thurgood Marshall, took the case to court, demanding an end to segregated schools which already legally existed in 17 states. [|(Brown Foundation for Educational Equity, Excellence and Research, 2004)] In the case itself, the NAACP used various evidence to show that segregation has caused ill affect on black children in the USA. The "Dolls Test" conducted by psychologists [|Kenneth and Mamie Clark]showed alarmingly that school segregation in the form of race, had a severe impact on the social and mental upbringing of black children. [|(U.S National Archives & RecordsAdministration, 2009).] Furthermore according to [|(Cozzens, 1998)] the NAACP argued that segregated schools sent a message to black children that were inferior to thw white children which consequently made the segregation of schooling unfair and unequal. Dr. Hugh W. Speer an expert stated;

//"...if the colored children are denied the experience in school of associating with white children, who represent 90 percent of our national society in which these colored children must live,then the colored child's curriculum is being greatly curtailed. The Topeka curriculum or any school curriculum cannot be equal under segregation."// [|(Cozzens, 1998)]

In defence, the Board of Education argued that the segregation by race on black children prepared them for the segregation they were going to face when older. Furthermore they argued that the segregation didn't affect the social and mental life of black children. An example given was about a few famous African Americans such as [|Frederick Douglass], [|Booker T. Washington], and [|George Washington Carver] whom overcame more than segregation in schools to be successful and well-known throughout the USA. [|(Cozzens, 1998).] These few quotes were used as some of the evidence for Board of Education against Brown;

//"////The United States has a federal system of government that leaves educational decision making to state and local legislatures" and "at the time the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution was drafted, widespread public education had not yet taken hold. Education was usually in the hands of private organizations. Most black children received no education at all. It is unlikely that those involved with passing the Fourteenth Amendment thought about its implications for education" [|(Landmark Cases, 2008)]//

There were however a few problems which happened prevailed for the Supreme Court and Brown; even though the judges agrees upon the evidence provided from the expert witnesses, the precedent set in the //__Plessey vs. Ferguson Case 1896__// had yet to be overturned by any Supreme Court, and it allowed for [|"separate but equal"] school systems for blacks and whites. [|(Gaither, 04)] Because of this reason, the court felt without a doubt they should rule in favour of the Board of Education. However multiple appeals, and application of relevant evidence provided by the NAACP and its lawyer [|Thurgood Marshall] led to this announcement on the 17th May 1954 by Chief Justice Earl Warren;

//"We come then to the question presented: Does segregation of children in public schools solely on the basis of race, even though the physical facilities and other "tangible" factors may be equal, deprive the children of the minority group of equal educational opportunities? We believe that it does...We conclude that in the field of public education the doctrine of 'separate but equal' has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal. Therefore, we hold that the plaintiffs and others similarly situated for whom the actions have been brought are, by reason of the segregation complained of, deprived of the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment." (Anderson, Low and Keese, 2008 & Cozzens, 1998)// This verdict handed down by the Supreme Court was labelled Brown (1). The decision made the 1896 doctrine of "Seperate but Equal" unconstitutional however only in terms of schools and education, no other public places. While on the other hand in what was known as Brown (2), the Supreme court in 1955 demanded the desegregation of schools, and even enforced guidelines of bringing African Americans and white American students together in schools. (Anderson, Low and Keese, 2008)

The //Brown v. Board of Education Case 1954// in which segregation by race of schools was found unconstitutional, was a landmark case in which was the starting point of the civil rights movements in the late 1950's to 60's. Although the decision was met by harsh criticism, and violence from supremacist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan, further legislation relating to the segregation of African Americans as a result of this pivotal decision, were found to be unconstitutional and hence a step forward for the full rights of African Americans in the USA.


 * __Bibliography:__**

//Anderson, Maureen, Anne Low, and Ian Keese. Retrospective - Year 11 Modern History. Queensland: John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd, 2008.//

//Various authors, "Brown v. Board of Education." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 27 May 2009// [|//http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_v._Board_of_Education//]//.//

//Brown Foundation, "Brown vs. Board of Education - Background Summary." Brown versus Board of Education / Brown Foundation for Educational Equity, Excellence and Research. 2004. 28 May 2009// [|//http://brownvboard.org/summary///]//.//

//National Park Service, "Brown Vs. Board of Education." [|www.nps.gov]. 2009. National Park Service - U.S. Department. 28 May 2009.//

//National Center for Public Policy Research, "Civil Rights: Brown v. Board of Education I (1954)." National Center for Public Policy Research - A Conservative Think Tank. Supreme Court of United States. 28 May 2009// [|//http://www.nationalcenter.org/brown.html//]//.//