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?**

**SETTING THE STAGE** - ** [|Participate in The Road to Justice activity] Were you successful? What did your learn in the activity (just think about it ....) **
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 * = **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] )** Make a bulleted list of the basic facts of the __cases__ brought to the Supreme Court **Place:** Topeka, Kansas > **Place:** Topeka, Kansas > **Grievance:** Segregated elementary schools, and the harmful psychological effects of segregation on African American children > **Plaintiffs:** Oliver Brown and 13 other parents from Topeka > **Decision:** A three-judge federal court ruled against the plaintiffs. The plaintiffs’ appeal reached the U.S. Supreme Court.
 * ** Brown v. Board of Education Legal Case Summary **

** 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 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.
 * Psychological testing demonstrated the harmful effects of segregation on the minds of African American children.

** 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.
 * 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 in the Supreme Court, and what was its impact? The Supreme Court agreed to hear Brown v. Board of Educationin June 1952. In September 1953 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. ** THE COURT DECISION (in your own words) (check** [|**Link 1**] **and Link 2)** What did the Supreme Court decide in the landmark decision? Warren wrote that it was not clear if the 14th said it was alright to segregate schools. It talked about transportation and not education but they decided that the present was the issue. Any segregation deprived African Americans of the liberties they recived in the 14th. **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 states had to figure out there own way to enforce this law. They could not segregate schools anymore but they had to make sure this was carried out. The unclearness of this gave time for resistance to rise.  **THE IMPACT and LEGACY** **(Check** [|**Link 1**] **)**  What is the overall importance and legacy of //Brown v. Board//?

Whites in the south resisted to the decision of Brown very strongly. African Americans still struggled to become equal even though it was unconstitutional to be segregated. It was surprising to see all of the people that resisted Brown. But it was also surprising to see how hard the blacks fought against racism. Today there are still minorities wanting equality.