Brown+V.+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?**



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

//-**Brown v. Board of Education Legal Case Summary** -**Washington, DC – Bolling v. C. Melvin Sharpe**// //Eleven African American junior High School students were taken on a field trip to the cities new modern John Phillip Sousa school for whites only. Accompanied by local activist Gardner Bishop, who requested admittance for the students and was denied, the African American students were ordered to return to their grossly inadequate school. A suit was filed on their behalf in 1951. After review with the //Brown// case in 1954, the Supreme Court ruled "segregation in the District of Columbia public schools…is a denial of the due process of law guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment…" This class action case was named for Spottswood Bolling.// -Supreme Court had misinterpreted the 13th and 14th Amendments because they did not allow for racial segregation. -14th by law allowed the government to put a complete stop to segregation -14th Amendment did not dictate that states were in fact allowed to create a segregated education system -The affects of segregation were severe resulting in much psychological damage to those who were victims
 * BASIC FACTS OF THE CASES **
 * 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.
 * MAIN ARGUMENTS OF THE PLAINTIFF **

-Constitution did not mandate that African Americans and Whites had to attend the same schools -It is a state's responsibility to regulate affairs of segregation -Segregation did not negatively affect Blacks -White children were smarter than Blacks and so they needed to be provided with higher levels of learner; where Blacks needed a lower level to compensate for their lack of intelligence
 * MAIN ARGUMENTS OF THE DEFENDANTS **

-In June of 1952, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case of Brown v. Board. The case was hard for the justices to find compromise within because there was no common philosophy amongst the nine justices. Despite this the case continued to spark the move for equality between Blacks and Whites.
 * THE CHANGE IN THE COURT **

-Earl Warren wrote a letter to the court describing what he thought regarding segregation. He decided that within the Amendments their was no clear distinguished answer to the issue of segregation, but it he ruled that it was unjust that Blacks were not receiving equal opportunities in education; thus they were being deprived of equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment and due process under the Fifth Amendment.
 * THE COURT DECISION **

**ENFORCING THE DECISION (discuss "with all deliberate speed) **  Decision declared segregation unconstitutional! The court ordered segregation from states to be removed "with all deliberate speed". This was very vague regarding how the ruling would be enforced; hence resistance was established all over the nation. Segregationists faced much hardship during this time, although many Whites supported integration the resistance was strong.

**THE IMPACT and LEGACY** -The case lead to creating a greater divide among those in support of integration and those not. As many fought to enforce the case's decision, other minorities rights began to become involved. For example women were seeking better treatment and people who suffered from disabilities.