Analysis of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka On June 7, 1892 a man named Homer Adolph Plessy was arrested and jailed for refusing to leave the ?White? section of an East Louisiana Railroad train. Although Plessy was only one-eighths black, under Louisiana law he was considered black and, therefore, required to sit in the ?Colored? section. The punishment for breaking this law, the Separate Car Act, was a fine of twenty-five dollars or twenty days in jail. Plessy went to court and argued, in Homer Adolph Plessy v. The State of Louisiana, that the Separate Car Act violated the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments of the Constitution. The judge hearing the case was John Howard Ferguson, who had recently ruled that the Separate Car Act was unconstitutional if the train was traveling through different states. However, in Plessy?s case, he decided that the state had the right to segregate the trains that operated in Louisiana only. Therefore, Plessy was found guilty. He, then, appealed to the Supreme Court of Louisiana, which upheld Ferguson?s decision. In 1896, the Supreme Court of the United States heard the case of Plessy v. Ferguson. Once again, Ferguson?s decision was upheld and Plessy was found guilty. The Supreme Court decided that the Separate Car Act did not violate the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery. This was too obvious for argument. They, also, decided that it did not violate the Fourteenth Amendment, which made the two races absolutely equal in the eyes of the law. It was decided that there was no violation of the constitution to separate the two races as long as they were equal (Cozzens).
The Essay on Ideal Political State Health Care
Is there an ideal political state in terms of geography? Realistically, the answer is probably no. But using bits and pieces of current political states, one can put together an almost near perfect country, with specific qualities and characteristics. From a Human Geographer's standpoint, there are several nations, states, and nation-states within the world which have one specific, or a few ...
An eight-person majority decided the case, and the only Judge to disagree was Justice John Harlan who seemed to predict the future when he wrote: Our Constitution is color-blind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens. In respect of civil rights, all citizens are equal before the law…In my opinion, the judgment this day rendered will, in time, prove to be quite as pernicious as the decision made by this tribunal in the Dred Scott case…(Cozzens).
The “separate but equal” doctrine was quickly extended to cover many areas of public life, such as: restaurants, theaters, restrooms, and public schools. For sixty-four more years the decision of Plessy v. Ferguson set a powerful precedent and provided a strong basis for other judicial decisions that upheld segregation laws. Finally, in 1954, the United States Supreme Court struck down the ?separate but equal? doctrine in the case of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (Cozzens).
The question stands: why did the Supreme Court reverse its outlook after sixty-four years? After the Civil War ended in 1865, the south was in chaos both economically and politically. The Reconstruction era that followed was a time of turmoil between the Radical Republicans and President Andrew Johnson. Both sides wanted to be able to deal with the South as they saw fit. The most complicated, and argued, issue of that time was what to do with the recently freed African Americans. Three amendments were soon added to the constitution, giving the slaves freedom, citizenship, the Bill of Rights and, for men, the right to vote.
Eventually, by the nineteenth century white political control had returned to the South. The Jim Crow laws segregated virtually every public place in the South. The uprising of the Ku Klux Klan, a secrete organization of whites who are against colored people, had most southern African Americans living in constant fear. Furthermore, by the late 1800s most people, living in the North or West, stopped paying as much attention to the ongoing problems that southern blacks faced.
The Research paper on African american case study
David Brown is a 35-year-old African American residing in Brooklyn, New York. He is tall, lean, and professional-looking. He has short curly hair and neatly shaved face. He has been a successful bank manager for five years and his colleagues look up to him with much respect and admiration. But whatever he has now are the fruits of his hardwork and perseverance. David was born on the 25th of ...
Southern blacks began to steadily move to the bigger cities in the North, and by 1920 a million and a half African Americans resided in northern cities. Even in the north, the blacks had trouble with discrimination. Membership in the NAACP, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, grew rapidly. In the 1920s, a section in New York known as Harlem became the center of Africa American culture. The ?Harlem Renaissance? was born, and it earned the respect from the whites in America for the blacks. Eventually, though, Harlem turned into a ghetto for African Americans, and by the time the Great Depression hit in 1929 the ?Harlem Renaissance? was non-existent. To make circumstances worst for African Americans, violence against them increased during this time as well with the second rise of the Ku Klux Klan. Finally in the 1940s the situation for blacks began to improve, mostly because of World War II, which helped to unite all Americans. Almost a million African Americans served in the armed forces. The NCAAP now had half a million members and was joined by the newly formed CORE, the Congress of Racial Equality. In general, African Americans came into the postwar era expecting more equality than ever before.
More than any other issue, education was the main focus of the demand for equality. By the 1950s, the Supreme Court began to more deeply analyze all separate but equal cases more carefully to determine if situations were really equal. Plessy v. Ferguson, and the doctrine of separate but equal, still held the basis for all cases. However, in several cases between the 1930s and the 1950s the Supreme Court ruled that the facilities for schooling were not equal for whites and blacks. The drawback was, though, that the Supreme Court was reluctant to decide any broad constitutional issues. Instead, they dealt only with individual cases and made their decisions as narrow as possible.
Eventually, the personnel of the Supreme Court began to change. In 1945 and 1949, Truman appointed four new justices. And after the Court began to hear the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka case, the conservative chief justice, Vinson, died unexpectedly of a heart attack. Earl Warren, who was far more liberal, replaced Vinson.
Trends and events during the 1940s and 1950s began to lead most whites in the nation to becoming more supportive of African Americans. The Nazi Holocaust and the Cold War with the Soviet Union were two events that greatly influenced whites in America to be more aware of the democratic ideals of the United States. People began to feel ashamed for the way that most African Americans were treated. Many studies were done to try and prove that segregation was harmful to black children. A Professor of City College in New York performed one of the most famous studies. The Professor gave children both brown and pink dolls and asked them which dolls were good and which ones were bad. An alarming majority of the children chose the brown dolls to be bad. His research was used by the NCAAP to help demonstrate the negative psychological effects that segregated schooling had on African American children.
The Essay on Courts Ruling Park Segregation Project
EVANS ET AL. v. NEWTON ET AL. SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES 382 U. S. 296 January 17, 1966, Decided In choosing a case for our project, my group and I found this one particular case very interesting. The statue being addressed in this case is the Fourteenth Amendment, dealing with racial segregation. In 1911, a United States Senator, by the name of Augustus O. Bacon left a will stating that ...
Oliver Brown was a black citizen of Topeka, Kansas in 1951. He was a World War II veteran, union member, and assistant pasture of his church. Brown?s oldest daughter, Linda, had to walk roughly six blocks from her house to get to her bus stop. A white elementary school was located only seven blocks in the other direction. However, she was refused admittance into that school because of her race. Brown reported this problem to the NCAAP and became the first plaintiff in the suit against the Board of Education in Topeka. Brown, and other plaintiffs that followed in his footsteps, lost the case. The Kansas court ruled that the white and black schools were fairly equal. By 1952, five cases challenging the separate but equal doctrine were appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States. In addition to Kansas, plaintiffs from South Carolina, Virginia, Delaware, and the District of Columbia all argued that racial segregation was unconstitutional. They proposed that it violated the fourteenth amendment. The five cases were all heard together in 1952 and then reargued in 1953. Finally, in 1954, the Supreme Court announced its first part of the decision declaring that racial segregation was unconstitutional. In May 1955, the Court gave the second part of its decision announcing that the desegregation process would take place on a flexible timetable. The Supreme Court decision that racially segregated schools were unconstitutional was unanimous. For the first time in over sixty years the Court decided against the precedent of Plessy v. Ferguson. Before this point in time, courts had simply made decisions based on whether the facilities were equal or not. They had never questioned if segregation, itself, was unconstitutional.
The Essay on Guilty Case Decision Tree
Ladies and gentlemen you have all charged upon me accusations of witchcraft. You " ve had your depositions and wronged my ears with false testimony and so called spectral evidence. All that is charged against me I can not defend, after all am I to conjure my defense out of the same thin air as my accusers gathered their case. I'm a simple person in this city on high, where I'm shunned from your ...
All cases before the Supreme Court are argued in two steps: a written step and an oral step. In the written step, both side?s lawyers submit written arguments, briefs, to the judges to try and persuade them to make a decision in their favor. In the Brown case, and the other four cases, the plaintiffs argued that segregation was unconstitutional because it causes inequality in education. Also, in the Brown case, nearly two dozen amicus curiae (friend of the court) briefs were submitted, with permission, by organizations and individuals who were not directly involved in the case. These briefs were very influential in the Court?s decision. In the oral step, the lawyers speak for a limited amount of time. They are able to touch up on any unclear points as well as answer any questions the justices have. In order to really understand why the justices came to the decision they did, it is important to examine the Fourteenth Amendment, the more influential amicus curiae briefs, and the oral exchanges between the lawyers and the Court. The Supreme Court struck down the separate but equal doctrine on the grounds that it was in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. In the Fourteenth Amendment it states that, ?No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States.? The Court, finally, recognized that the idea of separate but equal did abridge the privileges of African American citizens.
Segregation caused them to receive an inferior education. The American Veterans Committee, Inc submitted one very powerful brief. The AVC was an organization of veterans who served in World Wars I and II and the Korean conflict. They urged the Court to uphold the democratic ideals for which they fought. It was explained that in the battles over-seas there was no separation by race, blacks and whites fought side by side. Most importantly though, they wanted to make sure that the Court new they felt that segregation was similar to the racism that they fought against in Word War II, and that it was harmful to our nations welfare. The American Jewish Congress, also, submitted a brief. It basically stated that unjust injuries to one group would harm everyone. Considering the tragic history of the Jewish people, they were not strangers to persecution. They made it clear that they would not stand passive while one minority was discriminated against because of the color of their skin. The Congress of Industrial Organizations was very interested in maintaining the democratic rights of all citizens. Therefore, they submitted a brief that showed their support for the elimination of segregation.
The Essay on Federal Courts 1983 Monroe State
In response to The Civil War Congress enacted The Civil Rights Act of 1871 subsequently known as 42 USC SS 1983. Section 1983, applicable to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment, provides a civil remedy for persons who are deprived of constitutionally protected rights by persons acting "under the color of law." The 1961 Supreme Court decision, Monroe v. Pape, establishes federal courts as ...
The CIO was directly assaulted by the separate but equal doctrine, because despite the fact that they strongly opposed segregation they were required to segregate their own facilities. They made it clear to the Court that they wanted to practice non-segregation and non-discrimination in every way. Perhaps one of the most important briefs was the one by the American Federation of Teachers. They explained that segregation in schools was harmful to both the majority and minority groups. It damaged the moral sense of the majority as well as the sense of justice for the minority. They, also, mentioned how in the pledge of allegiance, when people would say ?one nation, indivisible? it was a lie. The nation was divided into colored and white. The Federation of Citizens? Association of D.C. represented many people of different races and backgrounds throughout the country. Their main goal for submitting a brief was to let the justices know that they rejected the idea of segregation, and they wanted to be a part of curing one our democracy?s ?conspicuous failures.? They felt that by abolishing segregation we would come closer to being at peace with people from all over the world.
The Attorney General of the United States proposed, in his brief, that America should set an example for the rest of the world and prove that a free democracy is the best form of government ever devised by man. He argued that, by segregating, we were going against our own idea that all men are created equal. At one point he wrote, ?The color of a man?s skin?does not diminish or alter his legal status or constitutional rights.? Furthermore, he argued that by having discrimination supported by law, we were undermining our societies? values: freedom, justice, and equality. The most accurate idea of why the Court decided the way it did is in the oral arguments heard by the court and what the Justices themselves said. In Brown, 1952, Robert Carter, an attorney for the NCAAP, made it clear that, under the Fourteenth Amendment, no State has the right to ?use race as a factor in affording educational opportunities among its citizens.? He went on to show that the only reason Negro children couldn?t attend white schools was because they were Negroes. This oral argument was very important, because it showed that segregation was in violation with the Fourteenth Amendment. In Briggs v.
The Essay on Race Relations Church State
1 Race Relations and Modern Church-State Relations Thomas C. Berg This article concerns religion and race - two controversial subjects that have figured prominently in America's constitutional and political debates since World War II. In particular, I wish to trace some connections in the last 50 years between developments in church-state relations and developments in race relations. Recently ...
Elliott, 1952, Thurgood Marshall, another attorney for the NCAAP, showed that, through witness accounts, segregation takes away blacks? equal status in the school community and injures their self-respect. John W. Davis, an attorney for the defense, then declared that the witnesses basically were not in the position to say that because they were not directly involved. Marshall went on to say that the main point is: Negroes are taken out of the mainstream of American life in the states. This is was a powerful argument by Marshall, because it showed that the Negro students really were suffering due to segregation. In the Briggs v. Elliott, 1953, Marshall told the Court about how white and black kids are friends, yet they have to be separated in schools. Also, he made a statement declaring that the Fourteenth Amendment took away the states power to use race. This was an extremely important argument, because it showed how segregation violated the Fourteenth and that children of different races really can get along.
Obviously, the best way to answer the question of why the Court decided the way they did would be to look at the Court?s decision. In Brown I, 1954, the Court explained that they felt education was perhaps the most important function of the government. With this in mind, they felt that it must be available on equal terms to all citizens. The Court went on to say that, even though the physical features of the education for the minority was equal to the majority?s, segregated schools deprive the minority children of equal opportunities. The Court had shown that they, finally, realized that discriminating due to race in education was very harmful and caused much damage. Knowing that the Court thought of education as the ?very foundation of good citizenship,? it is quite obvious that they wanted to make it the best system that it could possibly be.
Why did the Court reverse its outlook after 64 years? There are, clearly, several reasons. A large factor that was involved was World War II. This war, as horrible as it was, united our nation and helped us realize how important a free democracy really was. Another large factor is that the personnel of the Court changed. The new justices were, obviously, more sympathetic to the African American movement. The timing was right, as well. The two prior decades were a time of the trend towards the entire nation being supportive of black civil rights. Also, for the first time the Court focused on the effect of segregation itself on education, rather than if the facilities were equal. Even after the Court announced its decision, progress towards actual desegregation was slow. Some areas in the South were scenes of violence between the two races. Ten years after the decision, only ten percent of African Americans in southern states attended desegregated schools. Finally, by the 1960s the federal government and the Supreme Court had established guidelines in order to accelerate the desegregating process.
The precedent of the Brown case was used to desegregate many other public places in the years to follow. This case was, easily, one of the most influential cases in American history. Segregation, supported by law, based on race was shut down forever. Every life in the nation was affected by it. Even today we are affected. The United States would be a completely different place if not for that decision. It helped to revolutionize the way that minorities were treated. It changed the morals of the nation. It was no longer okay to discriminate based on race. Studying this giant step in our history is beneficial to show how are nation became what it is today: a place where anyone, of any belief, race, sex, or origin, can come and live without fear of being discriminated against.
