Brown+v.+Board+of+Education

//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] )**
 * Segregation could lead to harmful psychological effects on African American children
 * Segregated schools violated the 14th amendment
 * The segregated school for Black and White children were unequal
 * African American schools were underfunded and overcrowded
 * Segregated Schools were too far away from the homes and neighborhoods of African Americans without transportation

** THE MAIN ARGUMENTS OF THE PLAINTIFF (for integration) (check [|Link 1] )**
 * "In //Plessy v. Ferguson,// the Supreme Court had misinterpreted the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Equal protection of the laws did not allow for racial segregation."
 * "The Fourteenth Amendment allowed the government to prohibit any discriminatory state action based on race, including segregation in public schools."
 * "The Fourteenth Amendment did not specify whether the states would be allowed to establish segregated education."
 * <span style="color: #1d1c14; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%; line-height: 22px;">"Psychological testing demonstrated the harmful effects of segregation on the minds of African American children."

** THE MAIN ARGUMENTS OF THE DEFENDANTS (for segregation) (check <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat; cursor: pointer; padding-right: 10px;">[|Link 1] )**
 * <span style="color: #1d1c14; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%; line-height: 22px;">"The Constitution did not require white and African American children to attend the same schools."
 * <span style="color: #1d1c14; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%; line-height: 22px;">"Social separation of blacks and whites was a regional custom; the states should be left free to regulate their own social affairs."
 * <span style="color: #1d1c14; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%; line-height: 22px;">"Segregation was not harmful to black people."
 * <span style="color: #1d1c14; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%; line-height: 22px;">"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** <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat; cursor: pointer; padding-right: 10px;">[|**Link 1**] **)** What important change happened in the Supreme Court, and what was its impact? <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">When President Dwight Eisenhower appointed a new justice he managed to unanimously overturn their decision about the Plessy case. In 1952, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case, and Thurgood Marshall and the NAACP at last got what they wanted. But the legal struggle, in what many people considered to be the most important case of the 20th century, was anything but quick.The battle to overturn //Plessy v. Ferguson// and to bring down legal segregation took many years to unfold. ** THE COURT DECISION (in your own words) (check** <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat; cursor: pointer; padding-right: 10px;">[|**Link 1**] **and Link 2)** What did the Supreme Court decide in the landmark decision? <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">The final decision stated that the term " Seperate but equal" had no place because it effected the colored people(especially children) in negative ways both physically and emotionally. They demanded that desegregation of school begin immediately, but for some schools it took longer to desegregate. Some schools refused to desegregate and various riots were held. In addition, the decision was not strictly enforced and some schools secretly kept segregation. **ENFORCING THE DECISION (discuss "with all deliberate speed) (Check <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat; cursor: pointer; padding-right: 10px;">[|Link 1] ** <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat; padding-right: 10px;">[|Video] )  What was the Court's statement about the enforcement of the decision? What happened to the enforcement? <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">"The Court ordered only that the states end segregation with “all deliberate speed.” This vagueness about how to enforce the ruling gave segregationists the opportunity to organize resistance". The riots and protests steadily brought up the enforcement but it remained very vague. **THE IMPACT and LEGACY** **(Check** <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat; cursor: pointer; padding-right: 10px;">[|**Link 1**] **)** What is the overall importance and legacy of //Brown v. Board// <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Due to racism in the South, many people were astonished by the results and very many were angered. Many southerners were surprised the African Americans would fight so hard for freedom, but they did not realize that this was only the beginning. This case improved African American moral and was arguably the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement. The struggle for freedom soon was further spread all across the country, and desegregation became a large step and role to gain freedom.