Racial Segregation in Public Schools - Essay Example

Ferguson, [the Brown Court's finding of harm caused by segregation] . . . is amply supported by modern authority," and then held that any "language in Plessy v. Ferguson contrary to this finding is rejected." The case of Brown implied that separating "children in grade and high schools . . . from others of similar age and qualifications solely because of their race generates a feeling of inferiority as to their status in the community that may affect their hearts and minds in a way unlikely ever to be undone.

"6 Any segregation would yield undesirable results due to cultural concerns.7 Yet, the Court's claim arguing the imposition of segregation is unequal since the "purpose and effect and social meaning of racial segregation in America in 1954 [was] to create two hereditary classes of citizens."8 One issue distinguishing the Brown case the imposition of psychological stigma in making constitutional decisions. While Brown distinguished Plessy as involving "not education but transportation, "9 it suggested that the difference was significant.

It was observed that it "is perhaps the most important function of state and local governments," considering that it "is required in the performance of our most basic public responsibilities," and it is "the very foundation of good citizenship." It is also the "principal instrument in awakening the child to cultural values, in preparing him for later professional training, and in helping him to adjust normally to his environment." There was an intimation that a person may succeed riding in a separate railway car,10 the same could not be said of attending segregated schools.

It was pointed out in Brown that that "the separate but equal doctrine" has not been questioned in public education cases11 although it was not noted that education is clearly more important then. To illustrate, in the case of Buchanan v. Warley,12 there was an observation that "this court has held laws valid which separated the races on the basis of equal accommodations in public conveyances, and courts of high authority have held enactments lawful which provide for separation in the public schools of white and colored pupils where equal privileges are given," suggesting there are types of segregation that may be allowable.

It may have been that Brown may have been inadvertently decided by implying that Plessy could have gone the other way had the psychological basis had been understood differently or had the case involved education instead of cars. Nonetheless, the landmark decision in Brown was indeed a giant step in promoting ethnic coexistence.