A local schoolteacher in Clarendon County, South Carolina, pleaded with the school board to create the opportunity for his pupils to be transported to school by public buses. In the district of Columbia, African American parents from a poor background complained about totally overcrowded all black-schools and the resulting low education for their children. In Wilmington, Delaware, African American parents were no longer willing to accept the inferior state of their children's schools, especially in comparison to the far higher standards of the schools for white children, which were exclusively given the opportunity to improve out of the educational dilemma all schools in that state were in before. In Prince Edward County, Virginia, students of the all-black Moton High School decided to strike for their demands for "facilities equal to those provided to white high school students as required by law" (Peeples). Their school was build for 180 students but used to teach 450 by 1951 and has therefore been ruled inadequate as early as 1947. " (...) In Topeka, Kansas black parents sought to reverse policies under which their children were traveling to black schools far from home while passing white schools closer to home" (Willie, 30). These five cases were combined to form the base of the lawsuit called Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, which overturned the 'separate but equal' decision of Plessy v. Ferguson from 1896.
First of all the attorneys of the Richmond NAACP, Oliver Hill and Spottswood Robinson persuaded the students of Moton High School to turn their energies on challenging school segregation, which at that time was the state of educational law in Virginia, instead of only seeking equal facilities. They told them if they would do so, they would represent them in court.
Secondly, some members of the Topeka's local NAACP chapter initiated the case which followed the refusal of Topeka's Board of Education to enroll twenty African American children to all-white schools to end their daily lot
of long distance traveling to remote all-black schools. Their thirteen parents, one of them Oliver Brown who then became the major plaintiff, filed a lawsuit on the behalf of that children to ensure them admission to the schools closer to their homes. The district court ruled in favor of the board referring to the 'seperate but equal' decision by the Supreme Court in 1896.
Inhaltsverzeichnis (Table of Contents)
- The outset
- The Implementation of Brown I and II
- Institutional Measures to Circumvent Effective Desegregation
- Overall Results of School Desegregation
Zielsetzung und Themenschwerpunkte (Objectives and Key Themes)
This text explores the history of school desegregation in the United States following the landmark Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court rulings of 1954 and 1955. The work analyzes the implementation of desegregation policies, highlighting both successes and failures in achieving racial equality in education.
- The historical context of school segregation in the U.S. and the significance of the Brown v. Board of Education rulings.
- The challenges and obstacles encountered in the implementation of desegregation policies, including resistance from state and local authorities.
- The diverse strategies employed to achieve desegregation, including legal interventions, federal pressure, and community initiatives.
- The long-term impact of desegregation on the educational experiences of African American students and the enduring inequalities in the education system.
- The ongoing struggle for true equality in education, with a focus on the persistence of covert forms of segregation.
Zusammenfassung der Kapitel (Chapter Summaries)
- The outset: This chapter introduces the five cases that formed the basis of the Brown v. Board of Education lawsuit, detailing the struggles for educational equality faced by African American families in different parts of the United States. The chapter highlights the systemic inequalities in educational facilities and access that were prevalent in the Jim Crow era.
- The Implementation of Brown I and II: This chapter analyzes the implementation of the Brown v. Board of Education decisions, focusing on the initial successes in desegregation, particularly in the District of Columbia and some northern and western states. The chapter also explores the widespread resistance to desegregation in the South, highlighting the slow pace of change and the persistence of segregationist practices.
- Institutional Measures to Circumvent Effective Desegregation: This chapter delves into the various strategies employed by state and local authorities to obstruct or delay desegregation, including spatial segregation, placement of African American students in special education programs, and disciplinary measures aimed at keeping black students out of school.
Schlüsselwörter (Keywords)
This text focuses on the complex issues of racial equality, educational access, and desegregation in the American context. Key themes include the Brown v. Board of Education rulings, the legal and social challenges of desegregation, the strategies employed to achieve integration, and the persistence of systemic inequalities in the educational system.
Frequently Asked Questions
What was the significance of Brown v. Board of Education (1954)?
It was a landmark Supreme Court case that overturned the "separate but equal" doctrine, ruling that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional.
What was the "separate but equal" doctrine?
Established by Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896, it allowed state-sponsored segregation as long as the facilities for both races were supposedly equal.
How did states resist desegregation?
Many states used institutional measures like spatial segregation, pupil placement laws, and disciplinary actions to delay or circumvent effective integration.
What role did the NAACP play in the Brown case?
Attorneys from the NAACP, such as Oliver Hill and Spottswood Robinson, coordinated and argued the cases to challenge the legal basis of segregation.
What was Moton High School's involvement?
Students at Moton High School in Virginia went on strike to protest overcrowded and inferior facilities, which became one of the five cases combined into the Brown lawsuit.
- Quote paper
- Heimo Schulz (Author), 2006, From 'Separate but equal' to 'Total equality'?, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/89448
