Brown v. Board of Education and Multiculturalism

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On May 17, 1954, in the Supreme Court case of Brown v. Board of Education, the High Court, for the first time in American legal history, challenged the “separate but equal” doctrine previously established in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) and outlawed racial segregation in public schools. The decision, igniting fierce debates throughout the country, was met with violence and strong defiance in the South. The years after Brown, however, saw the passing of several important Acts: the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968. Today, Americans remember Brown v. Board of Education as a success in African Americans’ struggle for equal rights, a change of sea tide for the civil rights movement. While Brown deserves its place in American History Books, its direct product – desegregation – is not the ultimate solution to the education for African Americans. Desegregation only amends the system of education. America has to reassess the word “education,” for black Americans and other minority groups to achieve a real equal education. In Supreme Court’s opinion on Brown v. Board, Chief Justice Earl Warren says, “We conclude that in the field of public education the doctrine of "separate but equal" has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal” (“Brown v. Board of Education” 307). While scholars may argue that Supreme Court’s reversal on its previous ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson was abrupt and unexplained (Balkin 11), Supreme Court’s position that segregation in education is “separate and unequal” was irrefutable. Segregation in education had a long history against the interests of African Americans. For numerical examples, in 1898, the state of Florida spent $5.92 on every ... ... middle of paper ... ...for Education Statistics. Long-Term Trends in Student Reading Performance. Jan. 1998. Web. 2 May 2009. . United States. National Center for Education Statistics. Long-Term Trends in Student Mathematics Performance. Sep. 1998. Web. 2 May 2009. . United States. National Center for Education Statistics. Long-Term Trends in Student Science Performance. Sep. 1998. Web. 2 May 2009. . United States. National Center for Education Statistics. NAEP Data Tool v3.0. Web. 4 May 2009. . “Vital Statistics.” The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education Winter 2003/2003. Web. 3 May 2009. . “What Negroes Want Now.” U.S. News & World Report 28 May 1954: 54-59.

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