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] Were you successful? What did your learn in the activity (just think about it ....) **
 * = **Using the 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.** ||  ||=   ||

** THE 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
 * Reverend Oliver Brown and 12 other families from Topeka Kansas hoped to stop segregation and integrate blacks into white schools
 * Brown's daughter had to walk 21 blocks to her school while there was a comparable white one 7 blocks away
 * Brown's case was filed with 4 others from other states including Kansas and Delaware regarding school segregation under his name vs. the Board of Education in Topeka, Kansas
 * Kansas: African American kids had access to only four schools in Topeka and were denied enrollment in white schools
 * Delaware: Families were frustrated with incomparable conditions between segregated schools, segregated transportation, and they petitioned all white schools, but were denied access and enrollment
 * Washington DC: Gardner Bishop attempted to enroll eleven African American students in a new junior high, but they were denied despite having several empty classrooms throughout the school
 * South Carolina: Parents initially simply wanted transportation for black students too, but when their petition was refused, they filed a suit against all of segregation in schools
 * Virginia: One high school available to African Americans was extremely poorly made with inadequate conditions, leading to a student strike which demanded higher quality rooms or an entirely new building

** THE MAIN ARGUMENTS OF THE PLAINTIFF (for integration) (check [|Link 1] )** List the major arguments of the plaintiffs
 * In the case of Plessy v. Ferguson, the court misinterpreted the equal protection clause, which allowed for racial segregation
 * 14th Amendment gave the right to government to stop discriminatory actions at the state level ,which included the segregation of schools
 * 14th Amendment didn't specify if states were allowed to have segregated schools
 * Segregation had negative effects on students

** THE MAIN ARGUMENTS OF THE DEFENDANTS (for segregation) (check [|Link 1] )** List the major arguments of the Defendants
 * Constitution didn't prohibit segregation of schools and didn't say that whites had to go to school with African Americans
 * Segregation was merely a regional tradition and practice
 * Segregation didn't harm blacks
 * Whites attempted to equalize conditions, but still rising above slavery, these efforts could take a while

** THE CHANGE IN THE COURT (leading to a decision) (check** [|**Link 1**] **)** What important change happened in the Supreme Court, and what was its impact?

Chief Justice Vinson died and when Eisenhower appointed Earl Warren, a unanimous decision was made to overturn the Plessy case.

** THE COURT DECISION (in your own words) (check** [|**Link 1**] **and Link 2)** What did the Supreme Court decide in the landmark decision?

The decision stated that segregation was indeed detrimental and based the decision upon the present rather than the past. Segregation violated equal protection and due process and the idea of "separate but equal" had no place in society, because conditions were never equal.

**ENFORCING THE DECISION (discuss "with all deliberate speed) (Check [|Link 1] ** [|Video] )  What was the Court's statement about the enforcement of the decision? What happened to the enforcement?

The Court said to end segregation "with all deliberate speed." Such vagueness on enforcement led to resistance, like military campaigns of defiance from white southerners, even though most were content with the decision.

**THE IMPACT and LEGACY** **(Check** [|**Link 1**] **)** What is the overall importance and legacy of //Brown v. Board//?

People were unprepared for the resistance of whites, but were shocked at the perseverance of their black counterparts. Campaigns became broader, dealing with all aspects of social justice and spread throughout the nation. Since this decision, the equality movement has affected women, the disabled, and other minorities.