Brown+V.+Board+of+Educations

//BROWN V. BOARD OF EDUCATION// **What would break the back of Jim Crow America? What role did education play in the movement to desegregate 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 ....) **

** THE BASIC FACTS OF THE CASES (more than one)** Make a bulleted list of the basic facts of the __cases__ brought to the Supreme Court

-In Topeka, Kansas, there were segregated Elementary schools, and harmful effects of segregation on African American Children. The plaintiffs included Oliver Brown and 13 other parents from Topeka. A 3-judge federal court ruled against the plaintiffs, and the plaintiffs' appeal reached the U.S. Supreme Court.

-In Virginia, there were overcrowded, underfunded segregated schools for African American Children. Dorothy Davis, a 9th grader, and 116 other parents and students of Farmville, Virginia thought so too. The decision of a federal district court ruled against the plaintiffs, and their appeal reached the U.S. Supreme Court.

-In Wilmington Country, Delaware, there were segregated schools far from the homes and neighborhoods of African American children. Two mothers, Sarah Bulah and Ethel Belton, and seven other parents in the community were the plaintiffs in this case. For the decision, a state court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs. Not long after that, the state supreme court and the U.S. Supreme Court agreed and were in favor.

-In D.C, black students were segregated in overcrowded schools, and weren't allowed in the new, nicer schools for only whites. Twelve year old Spottswood Bolling and four other Washington students were the Plaintiffs. A federal districts-court judge ruled against the plaintiffs as the decision, but the U.S. Supreme Court asked to review the case.

** THE MAIN ARGUMENTS OF THE PLAINTIFF (for integration) (check [|Link 1] )** List the major arguments of the plaintiffs

-In Plessy v. Ferguson, the Supreme Court misunderstood the Fourteenth Amendment's equal protection clause, because equal protection of the laws did NOT allow for racial segregation. -The Fourteenth Amendment allowed the government to forbid any discriminatory state action based on race, including segregation in public schools. -Also, it didn't specify whether the states would be allowed to establish segregated education. -African American children were emotionally effected by segregation, after being Psychologically tested.

** THE MAIN ARGUMENTS OF THE DEFENDANTS (for segregation) (check [|Link 1] )** List the major arguments of the Defendants

-The constitution did not require white and African American children to attend the same schools. -Separating blacks and whites socially was a regional custom - the states should have their own choice 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." It would take some time for black children to compete with white children in the same classroom, because they were still living with the same effects of slavery.

** 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?

The Supreme Court agreed to hear the Brown vs. Board of Education. This led to more people think about integrating schools.

** THE COURT DECISION (in your own words) (check** [|**Link 1**] **and Link 2)** What did the Supreme Court decide in the landmark decision? They say that it is unclear if the 14th amendment were intended to permit segregated public education. They also admitted that segregated education was a problem.

**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 declared the system of legal segregation unconstitutional. But, the Court only said that states had to end segregation with deliberate speed which gave segregationists an opportunity to make resistance.

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

It made racial equality an issue and led to resistance and struggle for freedom.