Her father tried to get her into a white school, which was only seven blocks away, but the principle of the school refused to allow her to enroll. Brown went to the head of Topeka’s NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) and asked for his help. The NAACP was all eager to help the Browns in their case against the school because they wanted to take on segregation in schools for quite some time. The case was described as, “the right plaintiff at the right time.” By 1951, with other black parents joining the cause, the NAACP pushed for an injunction to end segregation in Topeka’s public schools. When the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas heard their case, the NAACP argued that segregated schools gave the message to black children that they weren’t equal, and naturally inadequate.
In 1951, the father of a black student named Linda Brown sued the Board of Education because a white school had prevented Brown from attending a school which was only seven blocks away, compared to the segregated black school she was attending which was more than seven blocks away from her home. Despite losing the first legal battle, Brown’s father did not give up. He found help from the NAACP, a prominent civil rights organisation which appealed on his behalf to the Supreme Court of USA. Following the appeal, in May 1954, Chief Justice Earl Warren declared the US Constitution to be ‘colour-blind’ and therefore ordered the Topeka Board of education to end segregation in its schools. This was one of the first major steps in the civil rights movement.
They filed the suit hoping that the school district would change its policy of racial segregation. When 20 parents tried to enroll their kids in the schools closest to them, they were denied enrollment. These schools were segregated and were the same as the ones black kids were supposed to attend. Since they were not allowed enrollment, the case was taken to the Topeka Board of Education. They decided that they should attend their own schools because they were exactly the same when it came to the facility, treatment, and staff.
"The Constitution forbids the state to exact religious conformity from a student as the price of attending her own high school graduation," the court said then. The ruling was viewed by many as a strong reaffirmation of the highest court's 1962 decision banning organized, officially sponsored prayers from public schools. But in 1993, the justices refused to review a federal appeals court ruling in a Texas case that allowed student-led prayers at graduation ceremonies. That appeals court ruling, which is binding law in Louisiana and Mississippi, conflicts with another federal appeals court's decision barring student-led graduation prayers in nine Western states. (Prayer in public school, 2010) In Colonial America the schools were mostly run by the
The Brown family's case was brought to the Supreme Court by the NAACP; they were an organisation which fought for the rights of coloured people. The NAACP won this important case, and the Supreme Court decided to integrate schools, this was the first victory for the Civil Rights Movement. The supreme court decided to outlaw the statement that was made in 1896; 'separate but equal', and make this illegal, the supreme courts reasons for this were that black children had been raised as inferior beings within the community and this should change. Although the supreme courts decision had been made this caused many problems for the white southerners, many riots broke out as there were still strong racial attitudes within the south. Many white southerners did not want their children in the same classroom as
What was the significance of ‘Brown v Topeka’, 1954? Brown v Topeka was an event carried out during the time of racism and segregation across America; the court case was brought up as some black Americans believed being segregated was unconstitutional. The court case started because a father (Oliver Brown) was annoyed that his daughter was denied an education at an all-white school, which was simply a couple of blocks down from her house. This court case in my opinion acted like a catalyst for further change for black Americans. In my essay, I will be evaluating the significance of the Supreme Court judgment about Brown v Topeka.
It is not until the end of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, ignited by Rosa Parks in 1955, that all buses are integrated. Brown vs. Board of Education is another example that shows why progress was slow. In 1954 the case of Linda Brown reached the Supreme Court. An all white school was just around the corner from the Brown’s house in Topeka, Kansas. But Linda had to attend an all-black school over a mile away.
The segregation of schools was based on the belief of the intellectually inferior label associated with Blacks, and in an effort to maintain the majority white population’s educational experience. The segregation of minorities also had an effect on public transportation. Blacks were prohibited from sitting in the front of a public bus. Rosa Parks has been acknowledged for her refusal efforts to move herself from the front of the bus, after a long day at work. Many other Black minorities have attempted the same action in an effort to take a stand against segregation.
After the emancipation of slavery in the 1800’s, African Americans have struggled to be treated with the same equal rights as Europeans. Even with the laws that were pasted to protect African Americans there were states that ignored and created new laws to overturn the laws to protect African Americans. The ignorant of Europeans who denied African Americans the equal rights the laws stated they deserved. African Americans decided to stand up for themselves by developing non violent protest movement to fight for the equal rights of African Americans. ("Civil Rights Movement") Martin Luther King Jr. became the leader of the non violent protest movement in the 1950’s.The development of Martin Luther King Jr. in this era started when an African American woman named Rosa Parks, who refused to give up her seat to a white man in Montgomery, Alabama.
She had to walk 20 blocks to school even though there was a school for white people two blocks from her home. The NAACP helped her father to bring a legal case against the education board. On 19 May 1954 the court declared that segregation was against the law and the constitution of the USA. The Board of Education of Topeka and every other education board were forced to bring segregation to an end. But many schools continued to refuse to implement this, and by 1956, in six southern states, not a single black child was attending any school where there were white children.