Brown+Vs.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?**

**Using 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.** **SETTING THE STAGE** - [|**Participate in The Road to Justice activity**] **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
 * Slavery never established in Kansas
 * Segregation was permitted by local option for elementary school
 * Parents from Topeka complained to a three judged local court that ruled against them so they took the case to the supreme court about the psychological effect on African American children in segregated schools
 * Buses were integrated but most of everything else such as restaurants and hotels were segregated but not by law
 * McKinley Burnett was the president of the NAACP petitioned the Topeka Board of Education to end slavery but had grown frustrated when the did not
 * He wrote a letter the NAACP asking for their help to file a lawsuit against the Board of Education

**MAIN ARGUMENTS OF THE PLAINTIFF** **(for integration) (check [|Link 1] )** List the major arguments of the plaintiffs
 * There were different ways of interpreting the 14 amendment like African Americans did on the part about protection
 * 14 amendment never specifically said if states could segregate schools
 * Psychological tests proved that segregation in school was harmful to the minds of African Americans
 * 14 amendment said government could chose to not allow discriminatory based on race

**MAIN ARGUMENTS OF THE DEFENDANTS** **(for segregation) (check [|Link 1] )** List the major arguments of the Defendants
 * The Constitution didn’t require white and African American children to attend the same schools.
 * Social separation of blacks and whites was a regional custom; the states should be left free to regulate their own social affairs.
 * Segregation was not harmful to black people.
 * Whites were making a good faith effort to equalize the two educational systems, but because black children were still living with the effects of slavery, it would take some time before they were able to compete with white children in the same classroom.

**THE CHANGE IN THE COURT** **(leading to a decision) (check** [|**Link 1**] **)** What important change happened, and what was its impact? <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">

The court changed its stance on separate but equal in the case of education. They disregarded this previous rule saying it was detrimental to colored children. Also a new chief justice was appointed who was very pro civil rights this gave the pro civil rights side of the court majority.

“ We conclude that in the field of public education the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.”

What did the Court decide? The Supreme Court said that it was not clear on whether the framers intended the doctrine of separate but equal to apply to education. It was said that racial segregation of education would be the most detrimental thing to African Americans because it would not give them equal protection under the14th amendment. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> The guidelines on how states should enforce these new laws was very vague and gave originations the opportunity to create resistance. Many mayors and state governments attacked the supreme courts decision and chose not to follow it in defiance; this created large opposition and truly showed the deep divide in the nation, and the national governments inability to enforce these rules.
 * THE COURT DECISION** **(in your own words) (check** [|**Link 1**] **and Link 2)**
 * ENFORCING THE DECISION** **(discuss "with all deliberate speed) (Check [|Link 1] )**

**THE IMPACT and LEGACY** **(Check** [|**Link 1**] **)** What is the overall importance and legacy of //Brown v. Board// ? This lead to one of the biggest arguments the United States had seen. The white southerners fought to protect there way of life. African Americans assembled to create a massive movement of protest, boycotting and violent resistance. This spread the fight from education to a broad topic of total equality. Later there struggle began to encompass all minorities such as women, and handicapped.