Devoir de Philosophie

Brown v.

Publié le 02/05/2013

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Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka - U.S. History. I INTRODUCTION Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, landmark court case of 1954 in which the Supreme Court of the United States unanimously declared that it was unconstitutional to create separate schools for children on the basis of race. The Brown ruling ranks as one of the most important Supreme Court decisions of the 20th century. At the time of the decision, 17 southern states and the District of Columbia required that all public schools be racially segregated. A few northern and western states, including Kansas, left the issue of segregation up to individual school districts. While most schools in Kansas were integrated in 1954, those in Topeka were not. II SEGREGATION IN AMERICAN SCHOOLS Racial segregation in Southern public schools dates to the 1860s. Before the American Civil War began in 1861, a number of northern states also allowed or required segregated schools. However, throughout the 19th century more than 95 percent of all blacks lived in the South, so segregation there affected an overwhelming majority of America's black population. After the Civil War ended in 1865, and especially after the end of Reconstruction in 1877, the South continued to segregate its schools and other facilities. In the influential case of Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) the Supreme Court upheld the practice of segregation as long as the separate facilities were "equal." By 1900, the South was an entirely segregated society. In 1909 blacks and whites, led by W. E. B. Du Bois and Arthur and Joel Spingarn, formed the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), an organization dedicated to fighting for racial equality and ending segregation. The NAACP challenged segregation through its Legal Defense and Education Fund. From 1936 to 1950 the organization won a number of cases leading to the desegregation of law schools and other professional schools at segregated universities in Mississippi, Maryland, Oklahoma, and Texas. The NAACP also had some success in forcing states to equalize public school funding and to pay teachers in black schools at the same rate as those in white schools. But throughout the South, public education for blacks remained terribly inadequate. III LEGAL BACKGROUND OF BROWN Brown v. Board of Education developed from several court cases involving school segregation. One of these cases, based in Clarendon County, South Carolina, illustrated the unfairness of segregation. In the 1949-1950 school year the average annual expenditure for white students in Clarendon County totaled $179, but for blacks it was only $43. The county's 6531 black students attended school in 61 buildings valued at $194,575. Many of the black schools lacked indoor plumbing or heating. The 2375 white students in the county attended school in 12 buildings worth $673,850. These buildings had far superior facilities. Teachers in the black schools received, on average, salaries that were one-third less than teachers in the white schools. In addition, the county provided free school buses for whites but failed to provide them for blacks. These circumstances led blacks in Clarendon County to sue to create equal schools. In the case, Briggs v. Elliott (1950), the United States district court in South Carolina ordered equal funding of black schools but refused to mandate racial integration of the schools. Meanwhile, in Delaware, Virginia, Kansas, and the District of Columbia, other cases emerged in the early 1950s that challenged the legality of racially segregated schools. These cases were consolidated into one case that became known as Brown v. Board of Education, named after the lead plaintiff in the Kansas case, Oliver Brown. Brown filed the suit against the Topeka Board of Education on behalf of his daughter, Linda Brown. At age seven, Linda Brown had to travel 1 hour and 20 minutes each morning to her segregated school for black children. If her bus was on time, it dropped her off at school a half hour before the school opened. Her bus stop was 6 blocks from her home, across a hazardous railroad yard, and her school was 21 blocks from her home. Linda Brown's white friends attended a local school only 7 blocks from her home. They did not have to ride a bus or face dangerous crossings to reach their school. Oliver Brown argued that he wanted the same conditions for his daughter. As chief counsel for the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, Thurgood Marshall planned the strategy for arguing Brown v. Board of Education before the Supreme Court. In representing Linda Brown, he argued that the "equal protection clause" of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States requires that states treat all citizens alike, regardless of race. The Supreme Court heard arguments in the Brown case in 1952, but the justices did not decide the case that year. Political divisions on the court ran deep, and the weak leadership of Chief Justice Frederick Moore Vinson made a decisive ruling unlikely. The court scheduled reargument in case for 1953, but Vinson died before arguments began. His replacement, former California governor Earl Warren, was a skilled politician who brought renewed authority to the court. Moreover, Warren believed that segregation was fundamentally wrong. He successfully persuaded all of the other eight justices to support a single opinion to end segregation. Warren himself wrote the statement of the court's decision, a document known as the opinion of the court. Warren's opinion explained the context of the law in regards to the case, and detailed the reasons why the court reached its judgment. It was his first major judicial opinion since joining the court that year. IV THE OPINION The question before the court was simple: "Was segregated education unconstitutional?" In the first half of his opinion, Warren did not answer that question, and he gave no hint of the decision the court would make. Reading the opinion in a courtroom packed with news reporters, he simply explained the facts of the cases before him and the history of the American doctrine of "separate but equal." Warren acknowledged that the history of the law regarding segregation was inconclusive, particularly as it was addressed in the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. The 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868, requires that every state give equal protection under the law to all persons, without regard to race. Warren reviewed the histories of the 14th Amendment, public education, and segregation. Then, speaking for a unanimous court, Chief Justice Warren concluded, "In approaching this problem, we cannot turn the clock back to 1868 when the amendment was adopted, or even to 1896 when Plessy v. Ferguson was written. We must consider public education in the light of its full development and its present place in American life throughout the Nation." Warren stressed the importance of education to a democratic society, claiming that education is "perhaps the most important function of state and local governments." He emphasized that "It is the very foundation of good citizenship." Warren then restated the original question before the court and provided an answer: "Does segregation of children in the public schools solely on the basis of race . . . deprive the children of the minority group of equal educational opportunity?" His answer: "We believe that it does." Warren supported his analysis with references to research performed by sociologists and psychologists on the damage to children caused by mandatory segregation. Finally, Warren concluded by saying that "in the field of education the doctrine of 'separate but equal' has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal." This ringing statement was followed by a single paragraph of carefully written conciliatory language. Warren declared that segregation was unconstitutional, but that the decision would have no immediate effect on the parties involved. Instead, the court would hear reargument in the case the following year to consider how to implement its decision. In April 1955 the court heard 13 hours of arguments over four days on how to end segregation in the public schools. Ultimately, in what is popularly known as Brown II (1955), the Supreme Court turned the implementation of desegregation over to the federal district courts in the South. The district courts were ordered to desegregate schools with "all deliberate speed," an ambiguous phrase that allowed many Southern judges to avoid desegregation for years. Linda Brown did not attend an integrated school until 1955, when she had reached junior high school. None of the children of the 20 plaintiffs in the Clarendon County case ever attended integrated schools. Nevertheless, Brown helped launch the modern civil rights movement and led to other court decisions that struck down all forms of legalized racial discrimination. By having segregation in the schools declared unconstitutional, civil rights lawyer Thurgood Marshall won one of the most important victories of his life. Contributed By: Paul Finkelman Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

« In April 1955 the court heard 13 hours of arguments over four days on how to end segregation in the public schools.

Ultimately, in what is popularly known as Brown II (1955), the Supreme Court turned the implementation of desegregation over to the federal district courts in the South.

The district courts were ordered to desegregateschools with “all deliberate speed,” an ambiguous phrase that allowed many Southern judges to avoid desegregation for years.

Linda Brown did not attend an integratedschool until 1955, when she had reached junior high school.

None of the children of the 20 plaintiffs in the Clarendon County case ever attended integrated schools.Nevertheless, Brown helped launch the modern civil rights movement and led to other court decisions that struck down all forms of legalized racial discrimination.

By having segregation in the schools declared unconstitutional, civil rights lawyer Thurgood Marshall won one of the most important victories of his life. Contributed By:Paul FinkelmanMicrosoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation.

All rights reserved.. »

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