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History essay civil rights movement
History essay civil rights movement
History grade 12 civil rights movement
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The Civil Rights movement turned out to be a tumultuous time in U.S. History. Martin Luther King Jr. rose to power and died, people rioted, the country divided itself, and people died. This all happened because the color of some people differed from others. The government didn’t seem to get involved in these issues, as it often didn’t end up well, but for the issue of segregation, the U.S. government finally appeared to step up to the challenge. During the Civil Rights movement of 1950-1975, government intervention largely eliminated segregation due to the increased legal victories of African-Americans, integration of schools nationally, and the banning of discrimination from places of public accommodation and employment. As more and more African-Americans …show more content…
As he overturned Jim Crow schooling and educational discrimination laws, he gave the black people of America the ability to learn like everyone else, because they no longer had to separate school because of race. Marshall’s win in overturning the Plessy v. Ferguson case shot the Civil Rights Movement to the forefront because it proved that the motto “separate but equal” didn’t enforce equality. “Thurgood Marshall as the "warrior of the bar" is shown well here. His brilliant advocacy and ultimate victory in the historic Brown vs. Board of Education school desegregation case in 1954, arguably his most notable courtroom feat…” (Portwood). Thurgood Marshall’s job in overturning the Brown v. Board case determined the disparaging effects segregation took on people. People could not learn at the same level as another simply because of race. Without this Marshall and his determination, a lot of America would be forced into inferiority, because their race determined their worth, but instead, anyone can become anything or anyone they want, as there are no boundaries. On a similar note, Constance Motley was another figure of importance pertaining to the courts and law. She worked alongside Marshall in the …show more content…
Winning the Brown v. Board case advanced the NAACP’s mission for desegregated public education. After this win, many members of the NAACP came together for a convention in Atlanta, where they formulated the Atlanta Declaration. They maintained their goals of ridding segregation from schools across America but also keeping a positive outlook on the future. “All Americans are now relieved to have the law of the land declare in the clearest language: ‘…in the field of public education the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal’. Segregation in public education is now not only unlawful; it is un-American. True Americans are grateful for this decision. Now that the law is made clear, we look to the future. Having canvassed the situation in each of our states, we approach the future with the utmost confidence…” (Palmer) The NAACP took a benevolent approach to eliminating segregation, not wanting to severely attack or cavil. The members realized that the country needed change but wanted to achieve it peacefully. They all came together, broadcasting a message of hope to the nation, as they predicted a positive future. Their statement reflected the change of the years to come in schooling, because the message had the sole purpose of inspiring change while also reaffirming that segregation would truly be brought to its end. The
The Plessy vs. Ferguson (1896) ‘equal but separate’ decision robbed it of its meaning and confirmed this wasn’t the case as the court indicated this ruling did not violate black citizenship and did not imply superior and inferior treatment ,but it indeed did as it openly permitted racial discrimination in a landmark decision of a 8-1 majority ruling, it being said was controversial, as white schools and facilities received near to more than double funding than black facilities negatively contradicted the movement previous efforts on equality and maintaining that oppression on
Homer Plessy vs. the Honorable John H. Ferguson ignited the spark in our nation that ultimately led to the desegregation of our schools, which is shown in the equality of education that is given to all races across the country today. “The Plessy decision set the precedent that ‘separate’ facilities for blacks and whites were constitutional as long as they were ‘equal’” (“The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow”). The case of Plessy vs. Ferguson not only illuminated the racial inequality within our education system, but also brought to light how the standard of ‘separate but equal’ affected every aspect of African American lives.
In 1896 the case of Plessy v. Ferguson occurred and has been viewed by may people, including myself, to be very important in history. Homer Plessy, the plaintiff in this case, was a light skinned black man, who was arrested for violating the Separate Car Act when he entered a car specifically designated for white passengers on the East Louisiana Railroad in New Orleans (Hartman 99). Judge John H. Ferguson was the presiding judge of the Louisiana Criminal District Court. Why was it that states can constitutionally enact legislation to require separate accommodations in interstate commerce based off of a person’s race? This was the issue of the case. The Louisiana Statute under review in Plessy required railway companies carrying passengers in their coaches in that state to provide equal but separate accommodations for the white, and colored races and no persons were permitted to occupy seats in coaches other than the ones assigned to them based on race. If passengers failed to obey these rules...
Thurgood Marshall was known in the NAACP’s Legal Defense as “Mr. Civil Rights,” because he fought many battles over segregation in the courts. Thurgood Marshall was surrounded by a team of brilliant lawyers, one in particular, Oliver Hill, from Virginia. Mr. Hill won many civil rights suits dealing with discrimination in education and wages. The civil rights movement included different groups with many priorities, all working toward the larger goal of social equality. The most highly educational law suit is Brown v. Board of Education. Oliver Brown sued the Topeka, Kansas, Board of Education to simply allow his own 8 year old daughter Linda attend a nearby school for whites only. Imagine every day walking by a school that have your grade level, riding a bus for miles to attend a school where only students of color must attend. On May 17, 1954, in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, and this is when the Supreme Court issued its historic ruling. It was Thurgood Marshall that spoke to reporters in New York City in 1955, after the Supreme Court ordered the desegregation of public schools. Marshall later became the first African American Supreme Court
to sit in a Jim Crow car, which was a car reserved for blacks only. Though Plessy was
“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” (qtd. in Irons 163). Many African-Americans waited to hear this quote from Chief Justice Earl Warren after many years of fighting for better educational opportunities by means of school desegregation. African-Americans went through much anguish before the Brown v. Board of Education trial even took place, especially in the Deep South. Little did they know that what looked like the beginning of the end was just another battle in what seemed like an endless war. Brown v. Board of Education was an important battle won during the Civil Rights Movement; however, it did have a major drawback simply because no deadline existed, an issue that author James Baldwin grasped from the moment the decision was made. The South took full advantage of this major flaw and continued to keep its segregated schools with no intention of ever integrating.
The Justices agreed to hear both arguments of the case. The NAACP recruited Marshall Thurgood, a future Court Justice, to represent them. On December 8, 1953, Thurgood argued that segregation and inequality were equivalent concepts. The segregation policy allowed by the decision of the Plessy v. Ferguson case was indistinguishable from the Black Codes. The Fourteenth Amendment had stripped the states of power to enforce these Co...
In this landmark Supreme Court decision the Court declared separate public schools for black and white students to be unconstitutional therefore overturning Plessy v. Ferguson. The white south enjoyed their victory with Plessy v. Ferguson for over fifty years before the Supreme Court was able to begin righting their mistake. The long term effect of Plessy v. Ferguson was evident in the fact that blacks did not make much progress towards becoming more educated, informed, and productive citizens since the Thirteenth amendment was adopted. There were gains but overall the gap in prosperity especially in the south between blacks and whites continued to widen. The disparity in the distributions of funding between the two races were extremely evident in education. The advantages that whites gained during this time period placed them in a position to hold financial and educational advantages over blacks that even linger today. The lack of equal education doomed generations of blacks to mediocrity while their white counterparts were able to make huge gains for themselves and their children. This is one of the mains debates about affirmative action. Due to the unfair advantages given to whites, especially during the New Deal and Fair Deal policies of the 1930s and 1940s, the black population’s prosperity fell well behind the nation’s white majority (Katznelson). Brown v. Board of Education was the first step to trying to rectify this situation. This example of how protecting the rights and liberties of a minority can positively affect the majority. For the nation as a whole, having citizens that are productive, prosperous, educated and content will (in the long run) provide a more united prosperous
The Supreme Court ruling of the court case Plessy vs. Ferguson and W.E.B. Du Bois’ The Black Codes determined the meaning of equality in similar ways. The Black Codes had full intentions to deprive any African American from gaining freedom. In addition, the verdict in the Plessy case interpreted the meaning of the 14th Amendment to justify that “separate is equal” (U.S. Const. amend. XIV.). By examining the dehumanizing language in both the court case and the article, it becomes clear that certain language is used to justify segregation, which negatively impacted African Americans because it categorized them and made an “inferior” race. This is significant because it creates division among people by socially making race a classification thus, leading to social tensions.
Have you ever heard about segregation? What affects it had in our Civil Rights Movement? Segregation had it’s biggest impact in the separation of the American people by color and race. Many children had to go to different school because of their color, this was the beginning of the Jim Crow Laws which led to Plessy V. Ferguson and ending with Brown V. Board of education. Although the decision did not succeed in fully desegregating public education in the United States, it put the Constitution on the side of racial equality and galvanized the nascent civil rights movement into a full revolution.
The United States Supreme Court case of Brown v. Board of Education was one of the most important cases in US Supreme Court History. The case developed an issue for Congress on whether or not segregation of children in public schools should be allowed in the States and if the legal doctrine “separate but equal” was constitutional in this conflict. It also created a dilemma with whether the doctrine violated the fourteenth amendment involving the minority children of the Equal Protection Clause. The Supreme Court’s ruling of the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education was one of the numerous victories in the Civil Rights Movement that is reflected on in the present today.
Board of Education case overtook racial segregation in the South due to the ruling that “in the field of public education the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ has no place.” (pg. 1054) The justices found that certain “feelings of inferiority among black children” were sourced from racial segregation in schools, directing America to move towards racial integration. (pg. 1054) Orval E. Faubus’ “Speech on School Integration” discussed the new concept of racial integration in schools across the United States. (Speech on School Integration) Previous ideas of racial discrimination were further challenged by the Little Rock Nine and the Montgomery Bus Boycott. (pg. 1055) In Montgomery, Alabama, a 42-year-old black activist for racial justice named Rosa Parks declined the demand to give up her bus seat to a white man. (pg. 1055) In a sense, she instigated the “modern civil rights movement” with her courageous actions that despite leading to her arrest, instigated various protests and urged support for the “Montgomery bus boycott.” (pg. 1055-1056) The primary source on the speech of Martin Luther King, an influential African American leader, on the issue of the Montgomery bus boycott describes the passion blacks felt towards resisting against white oppression. (The Montgomery Bus
The Supreme Court is perhaps most well known for the Brown vs. Board of Education decision in 1954. By declaring that segregation in schools was unconstitutional, Kevern Verney says a ‘direct reversal of the Plessy … ruling’1 58 years earlier was affected. It was Plessy which gave southern states the authority to continue persecuting African-Americans for the next sixty years. The first positive aspect of Brown was was the actual integration of white and black students in schools. Unfortunately, this was not carried out to a suitable degree, with many local authorities feeling no obligation to change the status quo. The Supreme Court did issue a second ruling, the so called Brown 2, in 1955. This forwarded the idea that integration should proceed 'with all deliberate speed', but James T. Patterson tells us even by 1964 ‘only an estimated 1.2% of black children ... attended public schools with white children’2. This demonstrates that, although the Supreme Court was working for Civil Rights, it was still unable to force change. Rathbone agrees, saying the Supreme Court ‘did not do enough to ensure compliance’3. However, Patterson goes on to say that ‘the case did have some impact’4. He explains how the ruling, although often ignored, acted ‘relatively quickly in most of the boarder s...
Before the Civil Rights Act of 1964, segregation in the United States was commonly practiced in many of the Southern and Border States. This segregation while supposed to be separate but equal, was hardly that. Blacks in the South were discriminated against repeatedly while laws did nothing to protect their individual rights. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 ridded the nation of this legal segregation and cleared a path towards equality and integration. The passage of this Act, while forever altering the relationship between blacks and whites, remains as one of history’s greatest political battles.
Massive protests against racial segregation and discrimination broke out in the southern United States that came to national attention during the middle of the 1950’s. This movement started in centuries-long attempts by African slaves to resist slavery. After the Civil War American slaves were given basic civil rights. However, even though these rights were guaranteed under the Fourteenth Amendment they were not federally enforced. The struggle these African-Americans faced to have their rights ...