Brown+v.+Board


 * 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 was never legally established in Kansas
 * School segregation was permitted by local option, but only in elementary schools
 * A three-judge federal court ruled against the plaintiffs, case went to Supreme Court
 * Buses and railroads were integrated, but most restaurants, hotels, and other public places were usually segregated—by practice, not by law
 * NAACP attorneys argued that segregated schools violated the Fourteenth Amendment and harmed black students.
 * Judges conceded the damage caused by segregated education.
 * //Brown v. Board of Education// laid the foundation for shaping future national and international policies regarding human rights
 * Laws and policies were products of the human tendencies to prejudge, discriminate against, and stereotype other people by their ethnic, religious, physical, or cultural characteristics
 * The //Brown// decision initiated educational and social reform throughout the United States and led to the modern Civil Rights Movement
 * Supreme Court ruled that Brown had won and desegregation was put forth in the public school system
 * Segregation was declared unconstitutional

**MAIN ARGUMENTS OF THE PLAINTIFF** **(for integration) (check [|Link 1] )** List the major arguments of the plaintiffs
 * Supreme Court had misinterpreted the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment
 * Equal protection of the laws did not allow for racial segregation
 * 14th Amendment allowed the Gov. to prohibit any discriminatory state action based on race, including segregation in public schools
 * 14th Amendment did not specify whether the states would be allowed to establish segregated education
 * Psychological testing demonstrated the harmful effects of segregation on the minds of African American children

**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? The Supreme Court decided to hear the Brown v. Board of Education Case in June of 1952. There were many arguments regarding this case. Many justices doubted the constitutional authority of the Court to end school segregation and they worried that a decision to integrate schools might be unenforceable. In September, 1953, Justice Fred Vinson died and President Dwight Eisenhower appointed Earl Warren as chief justice. His leadership in producing a unanimous decision to overturn //Plessy// changed the course of American history. Earl Warren wrote the decision for the Court and agreed with the civil rights attorneys that it wasn’t clear whether the framers of the 14th Amendment intended to permit segregated public education. Education was perhaps the most vital function of state and local governments, and racial segregation of any kind deprived African Americans of equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment and due process under the 5th Amendment. What did the Court decide? Supreme Court ruled that Brown had won. This was a unanimous decision by the justices. The Supreme Court said that no one should be deprived the right of education. The African Americans were deprived of equal protection under the 14th Amendment and due process under the 5th Amendment. The Brown decision declared the system of legal segregation unconstitutional. What was the Court's statement about the enforcement of the decision? What happened to the enforcement? The Court ordered only that the states end segregation with “all deliberate speed.” This gave segregationists the opportunity to organize resistance. Large numbers of white people considered this decision an assault on their way of life. Segregationists launched a militant campaign of defiance and resistance.
 * 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// ? The Americans were split in half over the issue of racial equality. Many African Americans, however, enforced this decision. African American freedom struggle soon spread across the country. The original battle for school desegregation became part of broader campaigns for social justice. Fifty years after the //Brown// decision, the movement has come to include racial and ethnic minorities, women, people with disabilities, and other groups, each demanding equal opportunity. The African Americans, finally, got their freedom whether the white people