Plessy Vs. Ferguson And Brown Versus Board Of Education

Separate But Not Equal - How Brown v. Board of Education Changed America Brown v. Board of Education was a court case to desegregate schools. During this time over one-third of states, mostly in the south, segregated their schools by law. Most people don’t know that the lawsuit actually started off as five, in Kansas, South Carolina, Virginia, Delaware, and the District of Columbia. Unfortunately all the lower court cases resulted in defeat (Greenspan 1). The bigger issue was still at hand though, it wasn’t only the schools being segregated, it was everywhere.

In the past most people believed it was fine to have segregation. One case that clearly demonstrates this view point was “Plessy vs. Ferguson Court Case.” in this cases, a 1/8 black man named Homer Plessy sat in a segregated seat for “Whites” in a train car. He was then arrested for interfering with the Louisiana law. This case went all

According to the Supreme Court on May 18, 1896 in a 7 – 1 decision, the state of Louisiana was within its constitutional boundaries. The Supreme Court claimed that the state of Louisiana was within its constitutional rights because of an idea that would be called the separate but equal doctrine. The Supreme Court made it clear the segregation was not a violation of the fourteenth Amendment as long as both parties were treated “equally”. In the case of Plessy and the Separate Car Act, the Supreme Court states that if people of colour are provided their own train car of equal value to travel within, no constitutional rights are violated. In the eyes of the American Supreme Court, segregation was deemed acceptable if the people of colour were treated equally under the law and service.

The Court declined his argument. The Court determined that the segregated schools were considerably equal enough under the Plessy doctrine. It wasn 't until the mid twentieth century when Brown v Board of Education came into play that Plessy’s argument was given the okay by the constitution. The Court tried to use Plessy v. Ferguson to deny the argument that Oliver Brown was giving during the Brown v. Board of Education case. Once the Courts decided that separating children by race could have an overall affect on the black children 's ability to learn.

"We must learn to live together as brothers, or we will parish as fools" (Martin Luther King Jr). That is what was said from one of the most experienced leaders, at during a very judgmental time. Martin Luther King Jr was just one of the many men that changed America. During this time, there was a lot of harassment towards blacks. They were not considered as an equal people.

Throughout our existence, many historical events occurred that changed our everyday lives. Although slavery had been formally abolished by the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865, African Americans were still being treated differently than whites. An issue that was often brought to court, was the segregation of black and whites in schools. A major event that occurred that forever changed our lives was the case of Brown vs. Board of Education in 1954. This was the name given to the five separate cases heard by the United States Supreme Court in regards to segregation in public schools.

Ferguson case appeared in 1896 and is a landmark Supreme Court decision to this day. The court ruled that the laws made to racially segregate blacks and white were not violating the constitution as long as they were given equal rights. For example, having two restrooms one for whites and one for black is fine as long as they are both the same. This may ring a bell towards the famous line of “separate but equal.” Brown vs. Board of Education in Topeka 1954, is one of the biggest and well known cases surrounding the time of racial segregation.

The court decision was a pivotal decision in the field of civil rights. It created a monumental change in the American nation. Furthermore, it broke all the traditional views about segregation by supporting equality among Americans. The bottom line, this landmark case made the previous doctrine ‘separate but equal’ unconstitutional. Additionally, the decision was a great chance for American society to come to terms with its dark past in the field of segregation and slavery.

For nearly a century, the United States was occupied by the racial segregation of black and white people. The constitutionality of this “separation of humans into racial or other ethnic groups in daily life” had not been decided until a deliberate provocation to the law was made. The goal of this test was to have a mulatto, someone of mixed blood, defy the segregated train car law and raise a dispute on the fairness of being categorized as colored or not. This test went down in history as Plessy v. Ferguson, a planned challenge to the law during a period ruled by Jim Crow laws and the idea of “separate but equal” without equality for African Americans. This challenge forced the Supreme Court to rule on the constitutionality of segregation, and in result of the case, caused the nation to have split opinions of support and

The Brown V. Board of Education was one of the biggest rulings that was made in the United States still to this day. After the slaves were given rights which happened because of Emancipation Proclamation many of the African American children were still going to all black schools. Over some time the Supreme Court ruled that black and white Americans were separate but equal. This meant that black students had the same rights, but they had to be in different school than white students. The biggest problem of school segregation occurred in the south.

In the Plessy v Ferguson case, it resulted in the agreement of ‘separate but equal’ which is the opposite of what was needed to bring the Civil Rights movement forward. This is opposition to African American’s because they ruled for segregation. The Strauder v West Virginia case is also an opposition to African American’s as it was ruled that only White American’s were to serve as judges in the Supreme Court. Finally, the Williams v Mississippi case was opposition to African American’s because it ruled that to be able to vote, you had to be able to pass a literacy test. This was opposition to African American’s as a lot of them would not be able to pass a literacy test as they would not have been educated well enough if at all to be able to pass a literacy test.

WOW! To Kill A Mockingbird has been a popular book for many years. The reason for this is it brings out a main theme which was common back then and still happens now. The theme of racism is seen in the book mainly at Tom Robinson's trial. The Ewell family represents the pride that whites had for innocent blacks.

Supreme Court decided that Brown vs. Board of Education would win the case because the racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional and, according to the fourteenth amendment, violated the Equal Protection Clause. This decision to desegregate schools in 1954 really impacted the country as whole. Reactions from this case were very powerful; some states shut down schools and many protests arose in an attempt to rebel against the decision. Even though the actual desegregation of public schools did not happen immediately, I believe this decision was just and really led the country in the right direction. This Supreme Court landmark judgement truly made progress towards an equal society and ultimately changed the countries social and national policies.

There was a trial for this case, whether he was allowed to sit the white railroad car. He was found guilty even though he did nothing wrong. This case assessed the constitutionality of racial segregation laws. This case made segregation laws in the United States a big thing. The U.S supreme court decision upholding the constitutional of state laws requiring racial segregation in public facilities under the doctrine of separate but equal.

Brown vs. Board of Education (1954) declared that separate public schools for African American and White children is unconstitutional. This ruling paved the way for desegregation and was a major victory for the civil rights movement. In regards to providing an equal education I believe this ruling did help to level the playing field. All students would now be receiving equal education and facilities giving them equal opportunity. I do know that it didn 't exactly go down peacefully and many African Americans still did not receive fair treatment for many many years but it was a stepping stone to move education in the right direction.