Brown vs Board of Education - Case Study Example

Brown vs. Board of Education Insert Here Insert Here Brown vs. Board of Education Race is a polarizing issue in both America as well as around the world. Accordingly, race and racism are highly topical issues which were brought to the fore during the recent American Presidential election between Barack Obama and John McCain. Race remains an important issue with broad social, political and economic ramifications while remaining a fixture of the evening news. Seeking to explain the major issues surrounding race and racism with respect to the landmark decision in Brown vs. Board of Education, this research paper will explain both the context as well as the ramifications of the case in question. We will begin with a thorough overview of the segregation debate in the United States and explore the status of minority rights in America prior to the Supreme Court decision. This paper will explore the justifications leading to the case as well as discuss previous laws and their ramifications. What behavior/rules needed to be followed prior to Brown vs. Board of Education and what were the consequences for breaking the law, behavior, rules? While Brown vs. Board of Education was a landmark decision, it was controversial at the time and this research paper will be both descriptive and prescriptive by providing a personal opinion on the issues surrounding segregation in the United States. We now turn to an introduction to the Brown vs. Board of Education ruling and the issues which precipitated it. Introduction The recent election of Barack Obama as the first African-American President of the United States was returned issues of race and racism to the public stage. Arguably the most developed and prosperous country on the planet, the United States has developed with a supposed legacy of egalitarianism, freedom and liberty. Despite a high standard of living and an economic situation which has been the envy of most other nations for more than sixty years, the United States also has a shameful legacy of slavery. The servitude of African-Americans at the hands of white masters is an infamous chapter in the annals of American history but an episode which deserves wider scrutiny. Although American slavery was abolished more than one hundred and fifty years ago, the legacy of slavery continues to have important ramifications on the lives of African-Americans today. Brown vs. Board of Education allowed the US Supreme Court to weigh onto the issues surrounding enforced segregation in the United States and represented a substantial departure from previous jurisprudence on the matter of racial segregation in America (Kluger 3-33). Segregation in America Prior to this important ruling, segregation was a feature of American life and most states of the South required separate education facilities for black and white Americans. Legally, segregation was enforced throughout the south as well as in some of the mid-west and while the behavior was normative and understood by most to be just the “way things were”, it had ramifications in many different realms. Accordingly, African-Americans were relegated to different sections of restaurants, had different restrooms and fountains and served separately in a segregated Armed Forces. In much of the southern United States, segregation was so pervasive that it was largely unquestioned by millions of blacks and whites. Intermingling between the races was limited in scope and blacks generally had an inferior position in the social order of the day. Arrest and detention were the punishments for breaking the segregation code and because it was so embedded within the southern culture it was respected by many. As the arrest of Rosa Parks on December 1, 1955 – one year after the Brown vs. Board of Education verdict adamantly demonstrated, breaking the segregation code in the south was tantamount to civil disobedience and those who broke the rules faced arrest. Brown vs. Board of Education did not initially challenge the day to day racism and racial segregation that afflicted African-Americans, such as separate restrooms and water fountains, but sought to overturn the Plessy v. Ferguson ruling of 1896 which sought to create a separate school system for black and white Americans (Anderson 13-17; Kluger 3-33). Prior to the landmark decision in Brown vs. Board of Education, racial segregation was a feature of life for millions of Americans in the south. This was based upon laws which actively enforced racial segregation and legislated it as the law of the land. Arguing that a separation of the races ensured that access to educational facilties were inherently unequal, the class action suit which became known forever as Brown vs. Board of Education was brought by a series of plaintiffs in Topeka, Kansas. At the time, 17 states enforced racial segregation in education facilities under the argument that the facilities were separate but equal. Arguing emphatically that the educational facilities for African-Americans were surely less than equal, 13 plaintiffs (parents of 20 children in Topeka) sought redress in the case of unequal educational faculties. In addition to the 13 plaintiffs, the NAACP, a national organization determined to end racial inequality in America, played an important role in bringing this case to the forefront of the American imagination. The plaintiff who is named in the case, Oliver L. Brown, was just one of the thirteen plaintiffs who brought the case to the attention of the court (Bell, 56-69). Brown vs. Board of Education was justified in the eyes of the plaintiffs as well as the NAACP since racial segregation in educational facilities violated the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution which states that no State can “deny to any person...the equal protection of the law” (Kluger 3). Arguing that their facilities were inherently substandard and thus inegalitarian, these parties sought redress from the court. It is important to note however that at the time, Kansas did not have mandatory racial segregation but that Topeka allowed, since 1879, segregation within the school districts were there was a population of 15,000 or more. This issue became a court case through the direct involvement of the local Topeka chapter of the NAACP which played an essential role in bringing the grievances of the Topeka residents to the fore. Accordingly, the NAACP played the role of instrumentalist in providing a forum for the grievances of the parents and instigating the court challenge. Accordingly, the NAACP began its involvement by encouraging the soon-to-be plaintiffs to attempt to enroll their children in segregated white-only schools and then following up with legal challenges once these attempts were thwarted. This case first went to a local court in Kansas and the Distinct court ruled in favor of segregation arguing that the Plessy vs. Ferguson precedent allowed for the separate facilities for blacks and whites. The case of Brown vs. Board of Education was actually a combination of series of cases spearheaded by the NAACP. It culminated in the decision that the segregated in fact did contravene the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution and that yes, in fact, the facilities provided to black students in segregated schools were separate but unequal (Anderson 13-17; Kluger 3-33). Concluding Remarks and Personal Insight By overturning Plessy v. Ferguson, the US Supreme Court argued that unequal educational opportunities were a feature of the separate by unequal system which had become so pervasive in the United States. The ruling in Brown vs. Board of Education effectively mandated the integration of schools across American and is rightfully conceived of as a landmark decision because that is what it was. The United States is a country which is based upon the ideals of liberty and equality for all and for many Americans their rights to equality were trampled on by an embedded culture of racism. My personal opinion is that the verdict in Brown vs. Board of Education can help account for the meteoric rise of our new President Barack Obama and without this important legal decision, his ascension to the highest office in the land would have never been possible. While the ramifications of Brown vs. Board of Education continue to be felt, this important ruling paved the way for a variety of other challenges to the pervasive segregation in America and led to the bus boycotts a few years later and the important drives to rid America of its terrible legacy of slavery. While much remains to be done, the election of Barack Obama shows us as Americans that anything is possible in this country and that legal racism cannot be tolerated. Brown vs. Board of Education allowed Americans to reevaluate their conceptions of race in America and paved the way for the full inclusion of all of our citizens in society. Access to education is a very important issue to study and the challenges associated with race in America remain real and apparent. One day I hope to live in a society where race does not matter but we should always remember Brown vs. Board of Education for what it was, a landmark decision which effectively legislated equality for all in America, regardless of race. BIBLIOGRAPHY Anderson, Wayne. Brown V. Board of Education: The Case against School Segregation. New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, 2003 Bell, D.A. Silent Covenants: Brown v. Board of Education. London: Oxford University Press, 2004. Kluger, R. Simple Justice: The History of Brown v. Board of Education and Black Americas Struggle for Equality. New York: Vintage Books, 1977. Read More