Brown vs. Board is one of the most influential court cases in the history of the Supreme Court. The court case decided that by having "separate but equal" public schooling was inherently unequal for black students. This ruling overturned the court case of Plessy vs. Ferguson, which established the idea of separate but equal. The ruling was unanimous, separate but equal was no more.
For 90 years, this racial segregation had been used in america. To get an idea of how people were back then, scientists were trying to scientifically justify racism. They actually believed black people were scientifically inferior to whites. The plaintiff's were 13 black parents defending 20 black children. This all started because a child of one of the parents had to walk 6 blocks to take a mile bus trip when a white school was only 6 blocks away. I actually thought it was much more drastic before doing my research. Anyway, when they tried enrolling into the white school, they were obviously denied. When the case was taken to the district court, the ruling was in favor of the board of education. But the parents new that what was happening to their children was unconstitutional, so they kept on pushing for their childrens rights.
Eventually the case got taken to the supreme court, and the court made a decision that helped define that time period in our history and define America as a hole. This decision was made at a time where the public was very liberal thinking, and pushing America towards becoming a more free nation. The government had just kicked out McCarthy, and people's moral level was on the rise. If this case hit the supreme court 4 years earlier, I would doubt that the outcome would have been the same. But lucky for all of us, it did. And now history is history.
Your post is very informative, I learned a lot by reading it. I am so glad that the parents were strong enough to stand up for what their kids deserved. Without these parents our schools would not be what they are today.
ReplyDeleteYou helped bring alot of modern day connections. We learned about McCarthy in AP US HIstory and I think that it really didnt have much impact on this case. I think you are really well informed and feel you did a very nice job.
ReplyDeleteI never knew that this case was similar to the Plessy vs. Ferguson case, which was overturned by this case. The thing that you had said about the scientist I find to be very interesting, but I think that this was such a huge part of history that its something that should be looked into. I think overall you had a very nice blog that I learned a lot from.
ReplyDeleteI think that this case illustrates the importance of the Supreme Court. Without the Supreme Court, the initial ruling by the Kansas District Court would have stayed intact, and possibly today we would still be segregated. I also find it ensuring that the Supreme Court in this case supported morality over popularity.
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