Brown v. Board of Education - Case Study Example

 Introduction This work is aimed to look back at the Brown case of 1954 to try to investigate its influence on the struggle for civil rights as well as on the U.S. laws and Constitution. It is essential to remind the general features of the Brown case, which became a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the USA. According to Patterson, “In 1951, a class action suit was filed against the Board of Education of the City of Topeka, Kansas in the United States District Court for the District of Kansas. The complainants were thirteen Topeka parents on behalf of their twenty children” (Patterson, 2001). They wanted the school segregation – separate schools for white and black pupils as it was recommended (but not required) by the 1879 Kansas law - to be abolished in Topeka. The named complainant was Oliver Brown, whose friend convinced him to join the suit. His third-grade daughter Linda had to attend the school for black children far away that situated far from her house, while the one for white children was close. The District Court ruled in favor of the Board of Education grounding its decision by the decision of U.S. Supreme Court set in Plessy v. Ferguson case (1896), according to which the schools had to be “separated but equal” (means equal in facilities). In 1954 the case was reargued in the Supreme Court. The question was not whether the educational establishments for children with different color of skin offered "equal" opportunities, but whether the policy of separate schools for black and white children answered to the Constitution. The justices answered with a strong "no": “Segregation with the sanction of law, therefore, has a tendency to [retard] the educational and mental development of negro children and to deprive them of some of the benefits they would receive in a racial[ly] integrated school system... We conclude that, in the field of public education, the doctrine of "separate but equal" has no place” (Patterson, 2001). The decision publicized on May 17, 1954 appeared for be the victory for black people. The government stated that the white and black children will be able to attend the same schools by 1963. Ralph Ellison wrote: “What a wonderful world of possibilities is unfolded for the children” (cited in Rosenberg 1991). From the first sight it seems that Brown is one of the decisive moments in American history. However, the more one investigates the issue, the more doubts arise. The question is has Brown case been really so important in achieving those wonderful things Ellison wrote about? I would like to focus on only two key legacies of the case: its influence on the struggle of black people for their rights and its influence on desegregation of educational establishments for black and white pupils and the quality of education in these establishments. From the first sight it seems that Brown case impact on the civil rights movement is very clear as it served as the stimulus for the well-known Montgomery school bus boycott. Another milestone was the Little Rock case happened in 1957. The Supreme Court decision made President Dwight Eisenhower involve the troops to enforce it, which was a token of desegregation. But even this token would never take place if not Brown case. At the seventh anniversary of Brown, on May 17, 1961 in New Orleans the Freedom Rides were scheduled to come. His timing is another evidence of symbolic value of Brown case decision. Unfortunately they did not reach New Orleans in time due to strong opposition. Well-known black students’ sit-ins in Greensboro were inspired by desegregation of the schools in the South between 1954 and 1960. So, as we can see there was a chain of causations. However, some historians and among them Gerald Rosenberg, think that Brown case has not made such a considerable impact on the escalation of the struggle for civil rights in late 1950s or 1960s. He indicates that the press gave too little attention to Brown case in general and the Supreme Court’s decision in particular, and even this attention was full of criticism. Generally speaking, we can conclude that the white population did not give much heed to this case as well as to civil rights movement. This fact also can be confirmed through examination of serious outlets of those times, such as the New York Times. The Gallup Poll was another indicator of scornful attitude of the public towards the civil rights movement – among ten most admired Americans it named Orville Faubus. Some experts think that he was a popular character only for white people living in the South, but it seems that this poll reflected the general state of things regarding the civil rights struggle in the whole country in the late 1950s. Rosenberg as well as other historians say that one could expect more civil rights demonstrations in the country after Brown vs. Board of Education case, particularly under the condition that the South actively interfered into the decision making process. However, actually fewer demonstrations have been registered in late 1950s if compared with 1943, 1946, 1947 and 1948. During these years the number of civil rights demonstration was especially significant; they were led, in most cases, by black veterans who had participated in the war for democratic values and returned to the country of Jim Crow’s legislation. So it is clearly seen that during the first five years after the decision there was no significant increase in number of demonstrations. There is one more evidence that proves the fact that Brown decision has not made a serious impact of U.S. legislation. This is a story of a black woman Autherine Lucy who attempted to enter Alabama University in 1956. She was not only rejected but also hounded out of the town. The journalists asked the candidates, Adlai Stevenson and Dwight Eisenhower, if they were going to take any measures to enforce Brown case decision. According to both candidates, they would never take such measures. Of course, Eisenhower had to eat these words but this happened only in 1957. And even then he did this in such a manner that people understood that he did not support the Supreme Court’s decision but only acted as commander-in-chief preserving order in Arkansas. The situation remained the same during 1960 presidential campaign between John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon. These two candidates also did not consider civil rights to be a key issue. Of course, everyone knows that by the end of the campaign Kennedy provided Martin Luther King with help and thus he won the campaign. However, despite of this fact, civil rights were a peripheral problem. In his famous inaugural speech “Ask not what your country can do for you” John F. Kennedy almost did not point out domestic issues. He was much more concerned about Cold War challenges. According to the second Brown vs. Board of Education decision given in 1955, the process of school desegregation had to be fulfilled with “all deliberate speed”. According to Chafe (1980)” later Thurgood Marshall figured out the real meaning of this statement – he spelled it out: S-L-O-W. And it really was slow. In all the southern states the Supreme Court’s decision was either unnoticed or intentionally violated. By 1964 only 1,2% of all black children in the 11 southern states attended integrated schools together with white children” (Chafe, 1980) . It seems that despite of the fact that perhaps, the enemies of public accommodation, employment problems and voting rights were a bit less excited than were the opponents of education issue, there was much white violence and anger. Our race relations legislation was dramatically changed by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Along with Security Act these laws can be considered “the most important pieces of American legislation for the last 150 years” (Rosenberg, 2001). And they might not have passed without the civil rights movement of the late 1950s. And in no case Brown vs. Board of Education turned things to worse. It is necessary to give another evidence of Brown case impact. Very often we tend to forget that in1954 “the racial segregation was mandatory not only in eleven Southern states but in six Northern ones, and was optional in four states. Also it was mandatory in the District of Columbia. Therefore, totally there were twenty-one states where segregation was either mandatory or optional” (Klarman, 1994). The state of Kansas was among them. According to Richard Kluger, 40% of all the schoolchildren, both black and white, were affected by the segregation policies in 1954. And we should not forget that Brown case has changed this terrible situation rather quickly. According to other historians, Brown encouraged the adoption of laws against racial discrimination in some Northern states, particularly in the area of employment, public accommodation, as well as had a liberalizing impact on some labor unions. The important aspect of this decision is that soon it became clear that Brown was applicable not only to education but also to transport, municipal golf courses, public parks and beaches and that segregation of these place was also unconstitutional. And finally, we should not forget about the symbolic value of Brown vs. Board. This decision inspired the Freedom Riders in 1961. On May 17, 1957, Martin Lutthe case not so positively. her King “staged a prayer pilgrimage in Washington, D.C. From here the Court had spoken” (Sitkoff, 1993). In early 1960s this decision was in minds of all the protestors even if they fought against racial discrimination in other areas but education and schooling. Brown case greatly impacted social and economic aspects of life of Negro people. Everyone knows that during 1950s colored people, particularly blacks, were treated unequally. Due to the color of their skin they could be killed like animals and treated like trash. All the aspects of their life were affected by racism, including the sphere of education. Although in 1896 segregated schools were proclaimed “separate but equal”, in reality this was not true – the whole system of education in schools for black people was weaker that that for white children. All that was changed by Brown vs. Board of education? This had positive social results as two great cultures – the cultures of black and white people met and enriched. Gradually black culture stopped being hatred and prejudiced. However, most experts estimate the case not so positively. There are no doubts that Brown vs. Board won in 1956 but it fails now. Government has failed to create educational equality in the USA. Despite billions of dollars invested, despite a great number of sound initiative, despite the legislation mandating that none child must be neglected, the schooling in America remain “separate and unequal”. There are still numerous gaps in the opportunity of education and they strongly impact the lives of low-income communities and communities of people of color in all 50 states of the world wealthiest country. While the government takes numerous school reforms aimed at increasing the quality of education, many students still live in communities reflecting the systemic inequalities in social, economic, racial and environmental spheres which still should be solved by our society. The problem is that now we are sooner trying to cure the symptoms of schooling inequality rather than the roots. The first root is the issue of housing as where you live determines your educational experience. Despite the moral victory of the case in 1954 today in America schools are only marginally desegregated due to low income of Latin and black students. The system of racial segregation was replaced with the system of residential segregation. Low-income black students are not explicitly forbidden to attend good schools because of their race but they are forbidden to attend them as they cannot afford living in the locations these schools are situated in. and in schools affordable for them we can often see bed infrastructure, low quality teaching, insufficient resources for sports, music, art, science and extracurricular activities. In these communities there is also a high concentration of poverty with all the consequences occurring as a result. The result is very often low-income students not only struggle with poverty at home but also receive inferior education. All this creates in children feeling of hopelessness and brings them to understanding that the benefits of good education have been created not for them. This leads them to study below their actual potential, quit schools, leaving themselves the last opportunity to get a decent education and later obtain a gainful job and secure housing which would in future release their children from such issues. Conclusion Thus we can make a conclusion that 1954 Brown vs. Board of education case really played a very important role in the struggle for civil rights in the USA. Due to it, among others, colored people became fully legitimated citizens of their country. However, today Brown case has only a symbolic meaning, this is just an important milestone in a history but no more an efficient tool used to turn lives of black people to better. References 1. Patterson, James T., Brown v. Board of Education:A Civil Rights Milestone and Its Troubled Legacy (Oxford University Press, 2001). 2. Chafe, William H., Civilities in Civil Rights: Greensboro, North Carolina, and the Black Struggle for Freedom (Oxford University Press, 1980). 3. Rosenberg, Gerald, The Hollow Hope: Can Courts Brings About Social Change? (University of Chicago Press, 1991). 4. Sitkoff, Harvard, The Struggle for Black Equality, 1954-1992 (Hill and Wang, 1993) 5. Klarman, Michael, “How Brown Changed Race Relations: The Backlash Thesis,” 81 Journal of American History 81-118 (June 1994). Read More