Brown vs Board of Education Topeka
Supreme Court of the United States 1954
Background
Most schools are currently segregated based on the doctrine of "separate but equal" established by Plessy v Ferguson in 1896. As long as the facilities are equal white children and black children will attend separate schools. This is an established practice. In 1954 four states all had similar cases move to the supreme court for judgment in this matter. All claimed that even though the facilities were similar or even equal the level of education in the black schools were inferior to the level of education being given to the white students. The black students should be allowed to attend a school in their district if it offers a better level of education and they should not be turned away because of their color. In all four states ( Kansas, South Carolina, Virginia, and Delaware) black students were denied admission to a local school under laws which require or permitted the segregation of students according to race.
Note: The Separate but Equal doctrine developed from the Plessy Vs Ferguson case was in regard to a transportation question. It was not argued as a case for education. Yet separate but equal was the standard of the day in 1954.
Ruling
The schools in question do in-fact appear to be equal in respect to buildings, curricula, qualification of teachers and other tangle factors. So the question presented is this: Does segregation of children in public schools solely on the basis of race, even though the physical facilities and other tangible factors may be equal, deprive the children of the minority group of equal educational opportunities? We the court believe it does. We conclude that in the field of public education the doctrine of "Separate but Equal" has no place.
Comment
ALright, lets shake the bucket on this one!!!!
I disagree with the courts ruling
I think they deprived the schools of the natural abilities to develop into quality learning facilities in their own regard.
I understand the domino effect ... I know there can not be out standing scholars with out basic education programs in place. In 1954 it probably did seem more like an impossible dream than a just a matter of time for many segregated schools to develop into world class teaching facilities. That does not mean there were not black teachers doing outstanding works. That does not mean that there were not outstanding schools within the segregated communities. To lump the entire group of american society together and say "Black schools are not as good as White schools" is a real slap in the face to those who strive for academic excellence within there own schools where ever they may be. I think the separate but equal status of schools was more opinion than reality. I find it had to believe that the segregated schools did in fact get equal facilities, equal pay for teachers, equal budgets from the state and alike. I think the schools were being punished for the color of their students.
The US was moving in a direction of a much more integrated social structure during the 1950-1960s and integration at all levels of society was going to evolve. The school system would be a natural part of that evolution as was the work place, public transportation and alike. I think a blanket statement from the court that says:"White schools are good/Black schools are bad" is a slap in the face to an entire group of our society.
Rumrunner
Fort Worth Cohort
8 comments:
Wow!! I have to say I agree with the court and respectfully disagree with the blogger. When looking at this case, I have to think about what I have learned in regards to history during the "seperate but equal" phase in our society. Things might have been seperate, but they sure weren't equal. I believe equal meant they all had books, they all had music, physical education, and band equipment. Just because they all had the items did not mean they were equal, especially when it came to quality. If I were on the receiving end of the seperate but equal, I want the same exact quality programs and materials that everyone else had. I also can't help but think of the emotional damage and hardships seperate but equal must of had on families. They are not good enough to attend the school that they live close to, so students have to be transported to a school of their "kind." What logical sense does that make? Absolutely none! I do think the blogger has an interesting point in regards to having excellent teaching on both ends of the spectrum. My thought is why not combine them all into one school so everyone benefits. I hate to think of what our world would be today, if segregation of seperate but equal still existed. I don't believe that the students were trying to say that black schools are bad and white schools are good, I beleive that what looked equal on the outside, was anything but on the inside. They wanted equal quality. Black schools had excellent teachers, I am sure of that, but did the teachers have the exact same quality materials that the white teachers had??
Sorry, Rumrunner,overall Ihave to disagree with your view on this case, although you do offer some valid points. To me seperate but equal means equal in quality as well, and I don't believe equal quality was what these students were recieving.
the above was posted by doglover
cdedad:
I agree with the court's decision. Separate but equal was separate, but not really equal except for maybe on the surface. For example, some people probably viewed "equal" as there is a school for whites and a school for blacks, and since there is a school for everyone, it must be equal. The difference comes in when the quality of the schools is more deeply examined. I think rumrunner makes good points, and that the "black schools" had good teachers. But there was probably a lack of quality within those schools, despite how good the teachers may have been. So I cannot completely agree with the blogger. But even if the schools were of equal quality, what would that have done for the rest of society at the time? School is were students learn to deal with many of the aspects of adult life, but on a smaller scale. We have learned in our other classes how important it is to account for the varied needs of our students and how working together as adults accomplishes more than trying to do something alone. Keeping schools segregated even if they were of equal quality would have taken that experience away from the students of that time or even the present if that ruling was still in place.
I don't believe that the court was trying to state that "black schools were bad and white schools were good" in this ruling. Although, that may have been the way that it was presented to them. I believe that they were simply stating that students should have the right to attend schools in their district regardless of their color.
I am not sure how the blogger thinks that this decision "deprived the schools of the natural abilities to develop into quality learning facilities in their own regard". Rather, I believe that this decision forced schools to develop into quality learning facilities. How could any school, black or white, be high quality if they were infected by the ignorance of racism?
Bottom line.....separate is not equal, no matter how you much you sugar coat it and I think that the court saw through the sugar coating and made the right decision for all.
~Tiffany~
Let me start off by saying that I agree with the decision of The Court in this case. In 1954 America was on the verge of many social changes that the country was in need of, but possibly not ready for prior to this time. Brown v. Board is one of the springboards for the Civil Rights movement. The case began to open the door to actual equality in this country. The decision in Plessy v. Ferguson, was also a sign of its own times in that America wasn't yet too far removed from slavery and for many the fact that black children were even being given the opportunity to go to school was a huge step.
I disagree with the blogger here. This wasn't a case about whether or not "black" schools were good or bad. The major question was one of equality. The black students were simply not being afforded the same opportunities as white students. Their schools were crowded, poorly funded, poorly equiped, and largely ignored. As I stated before the fact that they were given the opportunity to attend was enough. Plessy states that separate facilities (school or other) were fine as long as they were EQUAL. Equality in education prior to Brown was non-existent as far as race went. The biggest downfall of The Court's decision in Brown was not that it was stating that some schools were "good" and others were "bad" simply b/c of the color of the students/teachers skin...instead it was the fact that schools were to be desegregated "with all deliberate speed" and that no actual deadline or process was put into place to see to its implementation. Unfortunately it would take several years for desgregation to actually begin in the South.
posted by 1995frog
Posted by Kiska
Hmmm.I think it is interesting that rumrunner decided to buck the system on this one. While I can appreciate the point that there were more than likely some excellent teachers at the black schools, one can hardly truly argue that they were equal. As stated in other bloggers entries, one can safely assume that due to the nature of the beast during this time in our history there is a slim chance that any of the black schools could be considered equal. Just the fact that they were forced to be seperate made them ultimately unequal. The court got this one right. It is unfortunate that they didn't follow up with explicit instructions as to how and when this would take place.
Hmm…. Why is race such a touchy topic! In today’s standards, with today society, and with all of the history that we have to ponder on, I agree with the ruling of the court, today. I do not know how I would have felt in 1950’s; I would hope I would have had the same beliefs, but history and experience changes us. With what we know now, I agree with rumrunner remarks that there probably were good “black schools” and good “black teachers”, but I ask you this: If race had not been an issue but the quality of those schools had been, which school would you have your child attended? Which school would you have wanted your open heart surgeon to have come from? My point is that yes there were “good” and “bad” schools, but over the entire nation the “black schools” were getting the raw in to the deal. They were probable getting the majority of, not all, second hand teachers or teachers and equipment that were in “good” shape but not wanted from the “white schools”. I am proud that as a nation, we have tried to correct our mistakes and our plunders.
Fort Worth Cohort
Jagem
54 years out from Brown v. Board of Education and we still don't have seperate but equal. The playing feild has been leveled to a certain amount, but you can't tell me that the level of education is high in predominatly black and hispanic schools. Teacher atrition rate is higher, student dropout rates are higher. They are still not equal. What can we do to fix the problem? Is it the educator's fault if they can't be successful in poverty improvished urban school? Doesn't the culture sourrounding the poverty have anything to do with the low performing schools. The courts were right to desegregate. How do we go to the next step and make them equal.
fnb84
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