Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka Brown v. Board of Education was not the first Supreme Court case of its kind. In the 1896 case of Plessy v. Ferguson, the Supreme Court ruled that "separate but equal" segregation of public facilities was not a violation of the constitution. This ruling was considered constitutional as long as the schools for blacks provided the same education as the whites received at their schools; this was obviously not the case. Following this ruling, separate schools for blacks and whites became a basic rule in the south. At this time, Jim Crow Laws had also been passed throughout the south which established separate facilities for blacks and whites in everything from schools to water fountains. Seven year old Linda Brown walked a mile to her school in Topeka, Kansas every day. Even though there was a school, Sumner Elementary, located within four blocks of her house, Linda was not allowed to attend. Every day when she would walk to the bus stop, this young girl would pass by the school and wonder to herself why she couldn't simply go there but instead had to travel so far to a different school. The reason she couldn't go to the local school was simple, she was black.
Separate but equal educational facilities are inherently unequal. The school was less than half the distance of the school she had been attending and also offered a stronger education. Ferguson but also the entire public school system as well as the meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment itself. We conclude that in the field of public education the doctrine of "separate but equal" has no place. Board of Education) With the help of Burnett, Mr. Oliver Browns case was first heard by the U. This meant that the meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment and its Equal Protection Clause had not changed since its 1868 adoption, racial segregation was unconstitutional and Plessy had been wrongly decided. The verdict of this case was unanimous and on May 17, 1954, almost three years after the case had been heard in Kansas District Court and almost two years after it had been heard at the superior level, Chief Justice Earl Warren read his now landmark decision: "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. District Court of Kansas on June 25, 1951. In December of 1953, Oliver Brown got his wish; the case would be heard before the Supreme Court with Chief Justice Earl Warren presiding. 29)Earl Warren also had documented sociological and psychological studies, which stated that racial segregation among children in the public schools resulted in a lack of self-esteem in the black children. Board of Education) This event was the turning point in the desegregation of public schools, and the beginning to equality among the races. Brown had assured himself, as well as his supporters that this case would not stop at the Kansas District Court.
Common topics in this essay:
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Acceptance Essays
