Narrative Assignment
Walking into a lecture hall in Gregory Hall, I really didn’t know what to expect. I dressed as I would any other day; an Abercrombie shirt, a pair of frayed shorts and some casual sandals. I sat towards the front of the room and arrived slightly early to ensure a good seat. The name of this Brown v. Board education discussion was entitled, "Rethinking Slavery: 1800-1861,” and was arranged by the Mellon initiative.
As I waited to observe the audience as they filled the seats with pencil in hand, I was amazed by the amount of diversity I saw before me. By the time the lecture was ready to set foot, I observed that nearly the entire lecture hall was filled. I would say that the hall where our discussion was being held in could probably hold around 300 people. The majority of the audience was not students forced to write a paper on the Brown v. Board Commemoration events, but rather scholars who were on average in their mid-40s. It seemed as though everyone knew each other to some degree. At one point, I saw a woman walk in with her young son and they were greeted by one of the first presenters. Oftentimes, groups of 2 or 3 walked into the room and they would sit down in no particular section of the seating and proceed to talk moderately loudly and peacefully. There was a sense of joy and rejuvenation in the air. After making my final observations of the crowd, I noted that it was a predominantly white showing! Not something I would expect to see when attending a discussion on slavery. It was a spectacle for me to see a group of Asian Americans nodding in unison when points were made during the seminar relating to black and white race relations. I would say that African-Americans wer...
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...ree topics in detail instead of giving us new incite on slavery?
Finally what followed was a short question and answer section. Professor Ira Berlin was so excited about getting food at the following reception that he had to be reminded about the questioning section. How much compassion does that show I wondered? I observed that most of the questions Professor Berlin received were from African-American’s though their presence in the lecture was towards the bottom of the spectrum. The majority of questions that were being asked inferred the level of political correctness in the way in which Berlin addressed certain racial issues. It seemed as though the questions were rather insignificant and that the questioners knew the answers they’d receive before they asked them. After all, wasn’t everyone in that room that attended voluntarily there for the same general cause?
Patterson, James T. Brown v. Board of Education a civil Rights Milestone and it’s Troubled Legacy. Oxford University Press. New York 2001.
While the University Chancellor gave the introduction to Julian Bond on the 50-year anniversary of the landmark Brown v. Board of Education court decision, my interest in this civil rights figure gradually began to grow. Bond’s has a long list of accomplishments and has devoted his entire life to the fight for justice and equality in America. The audience, myself included, had to be impressed by his resume, because it was one that very few of us could ever even dream of achieving. Bond was a founding member of the NAACP, a close friend of Dr. Martin Luther King, and an active participant in many of the major events of the civil rights struggle that changed the course of U.S. history. He also served for 20 years in the Georgia Legislature and is now a professor of history at the University of Virginia. With this outstanding l...
The case of brown v. board of education was one of the biggest turning points for African Americans to becoming accepted into white society at the time. Brown vs. Board of education to this day remains one of, if not the most important cases that African Americans have brought to the surface for the better of the United States. Brown v. Board of Education was not simply about children and education (Silent Covenants pg 11); it was about being equal in a society that claims African Americans were treated equal, when in fact they were definitely not. This case was the starting point for many Americans to realize that separate but equal did not work. The separate but equal label did not make sense either, the circumstances were clearly not separate but equal. Brown v. Board of Education brought this out, this case was the reason that blacks and whites no longer have separate restrooms and water fountains, this was the case that truly destroyed the saying separate but equal, Brown vs. Board of education truly made everyone equal.
Brown v. Board of Education was a significant case that began many debates and movements across the United States of America. The basis of the argument was that “separate but equal” schools for white and African-American children were unconstitutional. This case was first filed as a class action suit, which took it to court at a state level, but after the jurisdiction was seen as unfair, was then brought to the Supreme Court. This case was supposed to be the beginning of the end of national segregation of colored people. (USHistoryatlas.com, 2015) Brown v. Board of Education proved that even though most people thought that racism was a problem that had been solved, the root of segregation was much deeper
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas was a milestone in American history, as it began the long process of racial integration, starting with schools. Segregated schools were not equal in quality, so African-American families spearheaded the fight for equality. Brown v. Board stated that public schools must integrate. This court decision created enormous controversy throughout the United States. Without this case, the United States may still be segregated today.
African Americans are still facing segregation today that was thought to have ended many years ago. Brown v. Board of Education declared the decision of having separate schools for black and white students to be unconstitutional. As Brown v. Board of Education launches its case, we see how it sets the infrastructure to end racial segregation in all public spaces. Today, Brown v. Board of Education has made changes to our educational system and democracy, but hasn’t succeeded to end racial segregation due to the cases still being seen today. Brown v. Board of Education to this day remains one of the most important cases that African Americans have brought to the surface for the good of the United States. Brown v. Board of Education didn’t just focus on children and education, it also focused on how important equality is even when society claimed that African Americans were treated equal, when they weren’t. This was the case that opened the eyes of many American’s to notice that the separate but equal strategy was in fact unlawful.
For fifty five years, Americans accepted segregation between the African American and the white race. In the Plessy v. Ferguson case of 1896, the Supreme Court ruled that public facilities that are “separate but equal” do not violate the jurisdiction of the Fourteenth Amendment. Due to this ruling, all spaces including educational facilities in the South were expectedly segregated. However, in 1951, that assumption was uprooted. Oliver Brown, an African American father, attempted to register his daughter Linda in an all-white public school in Topeka, Kansas; expectedly, he and his daughter were turned away. Brown immediately took the matter to court with the assistance of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Rejected by the district court, the case was taken up to the Supreme Court. The attack on segregation was based upon the clauses of the Fifth Amendment including the Due Process Clause. The case also considered the impact of the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Around the same time, four other similar lawsuits appealed to the Court, originating from Delaware, South Carolina, Virginia and the District of Columbia. The Court grouped the five cases into one, naming it after Oliver Brown. The Brown v. Board of Education case was then reargued in 1953.1
History plays a tremendous role in the present-day. Awareness of one’s history aids in understanding the significance of its effects. The Brown v. Board of Education case is a landmark in the history of the United States society and the judiciary system. It drastically affected education systems, the civil rights movement, and is known as one of the first cases to acknowledge social science results. This Brown v. Board of Education case took place over sixty years ago, and its affects continues to influence many aspects of today’s society, and more specifically today’s education systems. Despite its numerous accolades, it is still argued that Brown v. Board of Education failed to successfully accomplish its goal of desegregating
In 1954, the Supreme Court of the United States was confronted with the controversial Brown v. Board of Education case that challenged segregation in public education. Brown v. Board of Education was a landmark Supreme Court case because it called into question the morality and legality of racial segregation in public schools, a long-standing tradition in the Jim Crow South, and threatened to have monumental and everlasting implications for blacks and whites in America. The Brown v. Board of Education case is often noted for initiating racial integration and launching the civil rights movement. In 1951, Oliver L. Brown, his wife Darlene, and eleven other African American parents filed a class-action lawsuit against the Board of Education of Topeka, and sued them for denying their colored children the right to attend segregated white schools. They sought to change the policy of racial segregation in their school district. The plaintiffs collaborated with the leadership of the local Topeka NAACP to overturn segregation in public schools. In the fall of 1951, the parents tried to enroll their children into the neighborhood schools, but they were denied enrollment in the white schools and told to attend segregated black schools. The District Court noted that segregation in public education had a harmful effect on black children, but denied the need to desegregate schools because “the physical facilities and other ‘tangible’ factors” in Topeka, Kansas were all equal. The District Court confirmed the precedent established in Plessy v. Ferguson by the Supreme Court in 1896 and upheld state laws permitting, or requiring, segregation in public education.
It would be comfortable for me to continue believing that the Civil Rights Movement forced an end of de jure segregation and routine discrimination, ignoring the continuing de facto segregation and injustices faced by African Americans, viewing incidents such as Michael Brown’s shooting as isolated incidents. I could continue to shake my head and say that these events are tragedies, but surely they do not justify nation-wide protests. If there is no systematic pattern of disadvantage and abuse, then I am not morally obliged to take action. In this class it is impossible for me to simply brush off the complaints of groups like Black Lives Matters as overreactions. Like the rest of the nation, I now have to engage in the serious work of examining reality, acknowledging that racism is alive and well in America, and begin actively working to correct
Brown vs. Board of Education is actually a name that was given to five separate court cases that were heard by the United States Supreme Court regarding segregation in public schools. A man by the name of Marshall was the one who argued the case before the court. Even though he brought up a variety of legal issues the most common was the separate school for white and blacks was unequal which violates the equal protection clause which is in the 14th amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Marshall also argued that the segregated school system made black children fill lower to white children and Marshall believed that a system should not be legally allowed. In 1953 Chief Justice Warren was able to do something that the others couldn’t do which was bringing all the Justices together to agree that segregation in public schools was considered unconstitutional. There was opposition especially in the southern states but the justices had a plan for how the desegregation was to proceed. Even though it would be years before all segregated schools systems were segregated the Brown vs. Board of Education was responsible for getting the whole process underway.
Even though Brown vs. Board of Education had some impact in ensuring safe and equal public schools for African Americans we still have ways to go. The Brown Vs. Board of Education case in 1954 was huge for the United States Supreme Court because it declared states laws establishing separate public schools for white and African American students to be unconstitutional due to the fourteenth amendment. This was the start of all public school getting desegregated, but it still wasn’t equal. 14th amendment said that everyone should be treated equally. “No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty or property, without due process
As four, little, white Wahlert girls trot into our new college class, we came to an odd sight that we had yet to see in our eighteen years. A classroom full of black people. Going to catholic schools our whole life, I have generously seen a total of ten in a school environment. We almost cautiously walk to our seats. As class continues more show up late and a few argue back with the teacher. We sat back and gave judging looks and I thought to myself this kind of behavior wouldn't ever be acceptable at wahlert. Our first assignment of the day was to talk with someone we have never met before in order to conduct a solid introduction and conclusion to their lives. That is where Crystal came in and she revealed to me a perfect example of you can't judge a book by its cover.
On the seventeenth day in May 1954 a decision was made which changed things in the United States dramatically. For millions of black Americans, news of the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education meant, at last, that they and their children no longer had to attend separate schools. Brown v. Board of Education was a Supreme Court ruling that changed the life of every American forever.
Personally this course has been powerful for me since it made me realize the complexity of labeling one’s self and attempting to understand others around you. This classroom space was both comforting and scary at the same time. I felt threatened and fearful when I look around and realize there is one or two people that I can personally relate to. It feels scary enrolled in such a large institution; yet feel lonely and perhaps misunderstood. So to escape from being worried and concerned, I decided to say silent. I was afraid my peers will generalize my viewpoints across people of different color, and creed. Each culture and individual brings his or her own talents, skills, and unique experiences to the classroom. So to