Brown v. Board of Education The Untold Story Nicole Russell

Plessy V. Ferguson  In 1890 a new law in Louisiana required railroads to provide “equal but separate accommodations for the white, and colored, races.”  Outraged the black community decided to test the law.  On June 7, 1892 Homer Plessy was jailed for sitting in the “White” car of the East Louisiana Railroad. Plessy was one- eighths black & seven- eighths white, but according to Louisiana law he was black. Homer Plessy

Plessy v. Ferguson cont.  Plessy went to court arguing that the Separate Car Act violated the thirteenth and fourteenth amendments.  Unfortunately, the judge found that Louisiana had the right to regulate railroad companies that operated exclusively in Louisiana, and found Plessy guilty of refusing to leave the White car.

Plessy v. Ferguson cont.  Plessy appealed to the Supreme Court of Louisiana, which upheld the original decision.  In 1896 the Supreme Court of the United States heard Plessy’s case and found him guilty once again. This decision established the separate, but equal doctrine.

Separate But Equal  Justice Henry Brown wrote that the intention of the fourteenth amendment was not to abolish racial distinctions. Nor to establish social equality, but merely to establish political equality. Laws permitting and even requiring separation of races do not imply inferiority.  The “separate but equal” doctrine strengthened segregation practices in schools and throughout public life.

The Road to Brown v. Board of Education  As early as 1849, African Americans had sought judicial relief from segregation throughout public education.  In the 1930’s, under the leadership of Charles Hamilton Houston, the NAACP, begin to attack the “separate but equal” doctrine. Houston strategically focused his attacks on the realm of public education, because he felt like the detrimental effects of racial segregation were most readily apparent in this area of public life.  Initially, the NAACP focused their efforts on forcing states to live up to the “equal” portion of the “separate but equal doctrine.”  Through a series of court victories the NAACP successfully strengthened the “equal” component of “separate but equal.” States would have to make sure that their separate educational programs were truly equal in terms of resources, reputations, and other measurements.

The Road to Brown v. Board of Education cont.  In 1948, 52 year old U.S. army veteran, McKinley Burnett, became the head of the Topeka chapter of the NAACP.  The Topeka chapter was small, but amongst it’s members were a group of well-educated professionals with ties to a prominent psychiatric clinic.  For the next two years Burnett, attended every single school boarding meeting. In fact, Burnett saved all his vacation/leave time in order to attend the board meetings, because they were held during his work hours.  Burnett, wanted to get on the public comment section of the agenda, in order to discuss the integration of public elementary schools in Topeka (upper grades were already integrated.)

The Road to Brown v. Board of Education cont.  Since, the board refused to acknowledge, Burnett’s continued requests, he decided it was time to forge ahead and seek legal remedies.  Burnett joined forces with the Scott family law firm, a local law firm with a well established, history of litigating discrimination cases within the state of Kansas.  After consulting with the national chapter of the NAACP, the Topeka chapter decided to file a class action law suit.

The Road to Brown v. Board of Education cont.  The Topeka chapter, spent the summer of 1950 recruiting potential litigants.  In the fall of 1950 prior to the start of the school year, they had successfully recruited 13 families (a total of 20 children.)  The families were instructed to take their child/children and a witness to the white school nearest their homes, and attempt to register their child/children, and then report on what had occurred.

The Road to Brown v. Board of Education cont.  After all the potential litigants had been denied admittance, the legal team set to work.  It was a strategic decision to place Oliver Brown’s name at the head of the roster. The legal team thought that a male headed household would be better received by the supreme court.  In February of 1951, the legal team filed the case which we know as Oliver L. Brown, et al. v the Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas.

Brown v. Board of Education  In 1951, Eight year old Linda Brown, like many of the children involved in the case, lived in an integrated neighborhood.  “I had all of these playmates of different nationalities. And so when I found out that day that I might be able to go to their school, I was just thrilled, you know.” Linda Brown in her segregated classroom 1953

Brown v. Board of Education cont.  Initially, the court was charged with determining whether or not the state of Kansas had provided separate and equal education for the students in its charge.  As the case evolved the issue before the court became, “whether segregation stigmatized children and wounded them in a psychological way... and made state- sponsored segregation something that was constitutionally unsupportable. “

Brown v. Board of Education cont…  On August 3rd of 1951, the U.S. District Court in Kansas rendered their decision to uphold the right of the Topeka school board to maintain segregated schools. They decided that the schools were both separate and equal.  The three judge district panel, did acknowledge the validity of the arguments presented regarding the psychological impact of state sponsored segregation, but they could not make a ruling that contradicted the Supreme Court’s decision in Plessy vs. Ferguson.  Brown et. al was consolidated with four different cases from other states, that were on the supreme courts docket and dealt with the same underlying issues.

The Courts Decision Quoting Judge Huxman from the district court of Kansas: “Segregation of white and colored children in public schools has a detrimental effect upon the colored children. The impact is greater when it has the sanction of the law; for the policy of separating the races is usually interpreted as denoting the inferiority of the Negro group. A sense of inferiority affects the motivation of a child to learn. Segregation with the sanction of law, therefore, has a tendency to retard the education and mental development of Negro children and to deprive them of some of the benefits they would receive in a racially integrated school system.” Whatever may have been the extent of psychological knowledge at the time of Plessy v Ferguson, this finding is amply supported by modern authority. Any language in Plessy v Ferguson contrary to this finding is rejected. We conclude, unanimously, that in the field of public education, the doctrine of "separate but equal" has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.

The Legacy of Brown v. Board of Education  Was an impetus for much needed conversations on racism, segregation, equality, and much more.  Fueled the movement for Civil Rights.  Brown v. Board of education doesn’t specifically address Ell's, but it did set the precedent for equality in education, as a priority for all learners. This precedent has been used to address issues concerning English language learners.

References Ask an Expert NCELA Frequently Asked Questions. Department of Education United States of America. Septermber 25, Black White and Brown Transcript: Brown versus the Board of Education of Topeka. Originally aired May 3, Brown v. Board of Education Myths and Truths. Brown Foundation for Educational Equity, Excellence and Research. April 11, Exploring Constitutional Conflicts. Separate but Equal? The Road to Brown. July 17, Separate is Not Equal Brown v. Board of Education. Smithsonian National Museum of American Behring Center. July 17, 2007.