Lecture 38 Discrimination II Brown v. Board of Education

This Lecture Pages 618-626 Plessy goes down Brown v. Board of Education I (1954) Brown v. Board of Education II (1955)

Korematsu v. United States (1944) The Japanese internment case from WWII The driving force behind this was Gov. Earl Warren (R-California) Black, J. for a 6-3 Court The government wins because it did advance a compelling interest- being at War with Japan and fear of invasion of the West Coast However, the Court does say that all laws with racial classifications are immediately suspect, and are subject to the most rigid scrutiny Racial animus or antagonism can not be justifications though He does not find these existed here though

Chief Justice Earl Warren Vinson dies in 1953 As per a deal in the 1952 election, Warren was given the first seat on the United States Supreme Court He had served for more than a decade as California Governor He was so popular, both parties nominated him in 1946 He had been the GOP candidate for Vice-President in 1948 He disliked then VP Richard Nixon, a fellow Republican from California He turned out to be quite liberal This truly was “the Warren Court” Probably the most important Chief Justice in history Only Marshall would vie for this title

Brown v. Board of Education I (1954) Background Challenges to segregated schools in Delaware, Kansas, South Carolina, Virginia and the District of Columbia (Kansas is the lead case) They had lost at the district court level based on Plessy still being in place The Browns were black but lived in a mostly white area But Topeka’s schools were segregated Her parents wanted her to go to the neighborhood school for her which was white They also saw the white school as a better school The Court has to answer the question as to whether racial segregation in schools is unconstitutional

Brown v. Board of Education I- II Arguments For Brown and other plaintiffs This is a distinction based solely on race Plessy has been rendered inoperable by recent cases Social science shows that the segregated school stills inferiority in minorities For Topeka and the other school districts and states The black and white schools are substantially equal Plessy is still good law There is no evidence of harm from children attending these schools

Brown v. Board of Education I- III Warren, C.J. for a unanimous Court There is inconclusive history on the 14th Amendment and racial segregation There was not much free public education in the South For whites is was private, but sparse for blacks Even not to today’s standards in the North Beginning with Plessy, the courts interpreted discrimination against blacks

Brown v. Board of Education I- IV Warren, C.J. for a unanimous Court They look not to the issue of equality, but the effects of segregated schools Education is very important to modern success Free public education must be on equal terms They find segregation has other tangible factors to deny equal education McLaurin a black admitted to a white graduate school should be treated equally There were certain intangible factors in play Segregation meant to be enforced against blacks Leads to a sense of inferiority that hurts the ability to learn It retards their ability to learn versus in the integrated environment

Brown v. Board of Education I- V More from Warren, C.J. Plessy is overruled Separate but equal has no place in public education Segregation in public schools violate the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment However, the issue of the remedy was to be reargued later in the year

Boling v. Sharpe (1954) Boling v. Sharpe (1954) The case in segregated schools in the District of Columbia It is not a state, thus not subject to the language of the 14th Amendment They use reverse incorporation Since a certain standard was placed on states, it would be unthinkable that the same Constitution would put a lesser burden on the federal government They find this violates the 5th Amendment Due Process Clause This will apply to all federal racial classifications in the future

Brown v. Board of Education II- (1955) Background This is the same set of cases However, the Court wanted re-argument on the remedy here It had been reargued before at the urging of Frankfurter It was Warren that built consensus for Brown as the Court been badly divided The question here is how to enforce the previous decision There was a range from immediate implementation to a timetable to gradual

Brown v. Board of Education II- II Arguments For Brown and the other plaintiffs Black students should be admitted to their schools of choice immediately Constitutional rights had been violated at least the next academic year No evidence that gradual implementation will be smoother The court should at the least set some timeline For Topeka and the other schools This should be done gradually Immediate implementation could harm children School boards should be given the chance to manage the transitions

Brown v. Board of Education II- III Warren, C.J. for a unanimous Court These cases should be remanded for district courts to draft appropriate remedies The district courts can best meet and understand local needs The burden will be on defendants to justify any extensions to implement this case District courts will maintain jurisdiction during this time “With all deliberate speed” This was seen as part of a compromise to get a unanimous decision

Early Enforcement Cases Cooper v. Aaron (1958) Threats of violence no justification to keep segregation Griffin v. Prince Edward County School District (1964) The county closed its public schools for five years (by not collecting taxes) However, the county provided scholarships to all white academies Closing schools to deny education unconstitutional (district court could order taxes) “Too much deliberation and not enough speed”- Black, J. Green v. School Board of New Kent County (1968) Freedom of choice plan students could choose which school to enroll Very few blacks transferred to the white school (and they were harassed) The school district needed some plan to desegregate eventually by grade not race separation

Next Lecture Pages 626-637 Busing and school desegregation Massive Resistance White Flight Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education (1971) Parents Involved Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 (2007) Meredith v. Jefferson County Board of Education (2007)