Tiffany Robinson Writing Assignment 5 African American History The May 1896 Plessy V. Ferguson case is one of the landmark rulings in the history of American Jurisprudence. It was the culminating legal action of the post-Reconstruction period in American race relations, and made a firm statement that the Federal Government was not in the business of protecting African American. It opened the door to the era of virtual apartheid in the United States that lasted until the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950’s and 1960’s. The Supreme Court decision legitimized legal segregation in the nation. It provided that there could be separate public facilities, like schools and movie theaters as long as the facilities were near equal in equality.
The final exam will discuss the struggles African Americans encounter for civil rights during the 1950s thru 1980s. The attitude Malcolm X had in the civil rights and the issues that others had with Malcolm X philosophy in achieve equal rights for African Americans. Also, there will be great details in Martin Luther King Jr. and others philosophy in achieving equal rights for African Americans. The overall outcome of the civil rights movement in the 1970’s and 1980’s after the death of the most important Black leaders of this country. To pin point the beginning of the civil rights movement depends on who and what is being discussed.
The decision overturns the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson ruling that sanctioned "separate but equal" segregation of the races, ruling that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal." It is a victory for NAACP attorney Thurgood Marshall, who will later return to the Supreme Court as the nation's first black justice. In 1957, King established the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) with fellow activists C.K. Steele, Fred Shuttleworth and T.J. Jemison. In Birmingham, Alabama, desegregation was being violently resisted by the white population.
In response to numerous unsuccessful attempts to ensure equal opportunities for all children, African American community leaders and organizations across the country stepped up efforts to change the educational system. In 1950 members of the Topeka, Kansas, Chapter of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) agreed to again challenge the "separate but equal" doctrine governing public education. The strategy was conceived by the chapter president, McKinley Burnett, and the law firm of Scott, Scott, Scott and Jackson. For a period of two years Mr. Burnett had attempted to persuade Topeka school officials to integrate their schools. This law suit was a final attempt.
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.
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
However, the 1950s brought a new wave of challenges to official segregation by the NAACP and other groups. Circumstances of the Case Linda Brown, an eight-year-old African-American girl, had been denied permission to attend an elementary school only five blocks from her home in Topeka, Kansas. School officials refused to register her at the nearby school, assigning her instead to a school for nonwhite students some 21 blocks from her home. Separate elementary schools for whites and nonwhites were maintained by the Board of Education in Topeka. Linda Brown's parents filed a lawsuit to force the schools to admit her to
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.
To conclude, black people all over the world, wherever they live were for a long time victim of racism for their skin color. People treated them badly only because they had a darker skin color, forgetting that that we are all humans and the color of our skins an where we come from doesn’t indicate our personalities and beliefs. Black in America suffered a lot for reason of racism and went through the hard ships and difficulties
They faced different issues related to segregation with one of the most important was the segregation to do with education. This affected all levels of education, starting with elementary schools to university level. Black children were forced to enrol at a black only school even if a white school was closer. An example of this was in 1954 with the Brown vs Board decision. This matter was taken to the Supreme Court where it was reasoned that it was illegal to turn away students just because they were black.