Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka - Case Study Example

Legal Case Study: Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 1954(Brown 1) The case of Brown v. Board of Education involved thirteen Topeka parents of Negro extraction that sued the Board of Education of the city of Topeka for segregation in public schools. Board of Education v. Topeka Board of Education and the Plessy v. Ferguson cases are the most known and significant cases with regard to racial segregation in American schools and in American public life. The case of Topeka v. Board of Education was an amalgamation of different cases that originated from the states of South Carolina, Kansas, and Virginia. Legislation segregated Schools in these states according to racial makeup. Children of Negro origin brought a suit in which they argued in favor of free admission into all public schools. They went to court based on the principle in the Fourteenth Amendment that offered equal protection to all American citizens (Patterson, 2002). In many prior instances, the court denied relief on the ground of the Plessy v. Ferguson ruling. The case of Plessy v. Ferguson resulted in a ruling that offered for separation of whites and blacks in the public sphere while offering equal facilities and opportunities to all. In Brown v. Topeka, the plaintiffs argued against the principle of segregated and equal protection. They argued that the segregation of schools could never allow for any equality and reduced the protection due to one group of people. The legal issues in the case of Brown v. Board of Education were with regard to the rights of all people as provided for all people under the 14th Amendment. Another legal issue under the determination of the court was whether the principles of Plessy v. Ferguson are applicable to Brown v. Board of Education. The Fourteenth Amendment asserts that all persons are under equal protection of the law (Sitkoff, 2008). This amendment effectively entails that, all persons in the United States regardless of color, race or creed, deserve equality of protection and privilege in all aspects of American public life. The intention of the ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson was to legalize segregation in public transport. The issue of equality arises in that; provision of equality may be possible in public transport. In the realm of education, it would be hard to maintain equality since it is inevitable that skewed funding would occur against some of the segregated schools. Another aspect of the US Constitution is that it provided freedom of choice to any person to make use of any public facilities and institutions of their choice. The application of the rule in Plessy v. Ferguson was erroneous in that it restricts access to any American to public facilities based on skin color (Miller, 2004). The ruling on Brown v. Board of Education is a landmark ruling by the Supreme Court. The court ruled that segregation in any public facility or resources including education was against the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution and hence unconstitutional. The judges ruled that the intentions of the Fourteenth Amendment are to rid the American society of all distinctions in aspects of their public life. The judges asserted that at the time of the ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson most Negro children did not go to school and hence the decision did not affect them much. With the changing dynamics of American society, many Negros are becoming educated and the application of such a rule would be against the Fourteenth Amendment right to equal protection of the law (Sitkoff, 2008). The court took into account the recognition of education as a most important duty and function of the government towards its citizens. Education is one of the most fundamental aspects that determine success in life. A denial of equal opportunity in education is a denial of equal protection under the constitution. In their ruling, the judges also took into account not only the tangible measures of equality such as funding, but also other measures such as feelings of inferiority because of segregation, which makes such education unequal. Segregation in public schooling is not subject to the principle of separate but equal protection (Miller, 2004). The rationale of the ruling drew upon the psychological impact that segregation has upon the Negro children which results in a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. The court ruled that segregation of Caucasian and children of other races has a negative impact upon the psychological development of children of the colored races. The sanctioning of segregation laws by government machinery such as the ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson makes this effect even greater as the colored races consider such laws to denote their inferiority. The development of inferiority sentiments makes the colored children have a lower motivation for learning. State sanctioned segregation tends to arrest the progress of colored children and deprives them of essential benefits they would have accrued in an inclusive system (Patterson, 2002). The findings in Plessy v. Ferguson were informed by conditions at the time, which have in the course of time changed. The American society as such needs to be dynamic in responding to these changes by according everyone equal rights in all aspects of public life. The ruling in Brown v. Board of Education marked a watershed period for the enforcement of equal rights and opportunities for all Americans. While Plessy v. Ferguson is not the only state sanctioned law of segregation, it certainly paved the way for the repeal of other similar legislations that were geared towards denying Americans of color equal opportunity. The Fourteenth Amendment is a particularly significant piece of legislation on which the Supreme Court based their ruling in Brown v. Board of Education. The constitution is a critical instrument in the protection of the rights of all the people of the United States. This case is also important to the American society as it offered a new perspective of interpreting the law in that it made its ruling based on a sociological analysis that led to the overruling of Plessy v. Ferguson. It also employed sociological analysis to rule on and why it was inapplicable in the American society of the time. The case is important in understanding the development of racial relations in the United States, especially in the realm of public life. Brown v. Board of Education marked one of the most important rulings for the Negro community since it asserted the importance of education for all. A study of this case is a wakeup call for present the American society, which continues to experience so much segregation in aspects of social life and in public issues such as crime and punishment. The case is important of reminding Americans of the equal protection guaranteed under the constitution and its analysis would be important in fostering national pride and unity. References Miller, J. (2004). Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka: Challenging School Segregation in the Supreme Court. New York: PowerKids Press. Patterson, J. (2002). Brown v. Board of Education: A Civil Rights Milestone and Its Troubled Legacy. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press. Sitkoff, H. (2008). The Struggle for Black Equality. New York: Hill and Wang Read More