Brown+v.s+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

DELAWARE: Bulah v. Gebhart / Bolton v. Gebhart Case challenged the inferior conditions of the two black schools. Parents of African American children were upset that their children had to ride the bus for an hour going right past the white children's school.

KANSAS: Brown v. Board of Education Plaintiff Oliver Brown and 13 other parents from Topeka argued that the segregated elementary schools had negative psychological effects on African American children. The NAACP, with Lucinda Todd their Secretary, challenged a 1879 state law that permitted racially segregated elementary schools in certain cities and also argued that law violated the 14th Amendment of the Constitution.

SOUTH CAROLINA: Briggs v. Elliot State NAACP attempted to take legal action against the inferior conditions African American students experienced under South Carolina's racially segregated system.

VIRGINIA: Davis v. School Board of Prince Edward County A strike by African American students led by Barbara Johns, and 11th grader, led to a challenge by the NAACP of the poor quality of the few public high schools that were available to African American students.

 **MAIN ARGUMENTS OF THE PLAINTIFF** **(for integration) (check [|Link 1] )** List the major arguments of the plaintiffs 1) Equal protection of the laws did not allow for racial segregation. 2) Fourteenth Amendment allowed the government to prohibit any discriminatory state action based on race, including segregation in public schools. 3) Fourteenth Amendment did not specify whether the states would be allowed to establish segregated education. 4) 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 1) The Constitution did not require African American children to attend the same schools. 2) Social separation of blacks and whites was a regional custom: the states should be left free to regulate their own social affairs. 3) Segregation was not harmful to black people. 4) 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? Chief Justice Fred Venson and a few other justices doubted the constitutional authority of the Supreme Court to end school segregation. When Chief Justice Venson died, President Eisenhower appointed Earl Warren to take his place. It was Chief Justice Warren's leadership that produced a unanimous decision to overturn the Plessy v. Ferguson decision and that changed the course of American history.

 **THE COURT DECISION** **(in your own words) (check** [|**Link 1**] **and Link 2)** What did the Court decide? The Court agreed with the plaintiffs and found that the system of racial segregation was unconstitutional. Chief Justice Warren took the side of the civil rights attorneys when he agreed that the Fourteenth Amendment was not clear on whether it allowed for racially segregated public education. He also said that education was an important function of state and local government and that racial segregation had a bad effect on African American children.

 **ENFORCING THE DECISION** **(discuss "with all deliberate speed) (Check [|Link 1] )** The Supreme Court may have declared the system of racial segregation unconstitutional, however, by asking states to comply with "all deliberate speed" they opened the door for segregationists to organize against the decision. The statement "all deliberate speed" does not give states a definite time schedule for getting the changes accomplished. The vague statement allowed those in favor of segregation to organize resistance protests.

THE IMPACT and LEGACY (Check ** [|**Link 1**] **) ** What is the overall importance and legacy of //Brown v. Board// ? The decision to defeat the "separate but equal" doctrine and end segregation in schools led to a larger campaign for civil rights. The impact of the decision was that it caused those in favor of ending segregation to fight for enforcement of the law, and the segregationists to step up their resistance of complying. The Brown v. Board of Education ruling was important because it was the foundation of what has become the fight for social justice and equal opportunity for other ethnic minorities, women, and those with disabilities that grew and spread across the nation. **