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What decision did the courts use for brown vs board of education
What decision did the courts use for brown vs board of education
What decision did the courts use for brown vs board of education
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African Americans have had a long struggle in achieving the freedoms deserved by all citizens of the United States. The monumental cases of Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) and Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas (1954) had an undeniable impact on the civil rights of African Americans. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 also played important roles in the civil rights that we enjoy in our country today. As televisions were becoming a household item during this time the effects of media were notable and widespread, as well.
The “Equal Protection Clause” in the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution required states to provide all people in their jurisdiction equal protection under the law and acted as the basis for the Plessy v. Ferguson case. The “separate but equal” clause was born out of the Plessy v. Ferguson case in 1896 and allowed for segregation on intrastate railroads as long as equal accommodations for African Americans and Caucasians were made available. It was determined by the majority that while politically equal, African Americans were socially unequal and therefore no amendment was violated in upholding the 1890 Louisiana Separate Car Act, the Act that Plessy v. Ferguson attempted to have found arbitrary. This judgment served as the legal justification for segregation for better than fifty years to come. The one dissenting vote came from Justice John Marshall Harlan, who feared that the decision would be as infamous as that of Dred Scott v. Sandford which held that slaves were not protected under the constitution. In his dissention Justice Harlan argued that the ruling was degrading to African Americans and acted as a “badge of servitude”.
The decision in Plessy v. Ferguson...
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...ents that have taken place since.
The Civil Rights Movement has been a long and arduous struggle yet it has also seen great strides. It may have taken almost sixty years but Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas did finally overturn the decision that acted as the basis for segregation in Plessy v. Ferguson. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 gave African Americans equal opportunity in private enterprise that was finally punishable if not adhered to and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 forced individual states to abandon tactics that denied African Americans the right to vote. Could all of this progress taken place without the aid of the media? Perhaps, but I believe that the progress made between 1955-1968 in regards to civil rights for African Americans was largely due to the media coverage informing the public of the injustices that were still plenty in America.
Throughout history, segregation has always been a part of United States history. This is showed through the relationships between the blacks and whites, the whites had a master-slave relationship and the blacks had a slave-master relationship. And this is also true after the civil war, when the blacks attained rights! Even though they had obtained rights the whites were always one step above them and lead superiority over them continuously. This is true in the Supreme court case “Plessy v. Ferguson”. The Court case ruled that blacks and whites had to have separate facilities and it was only constitutional if the facilities were equal. this means that they also constituted that this was not a violation of the 13th and 14th amendment because they weren 't considered slaves and had “equal” facilities even though they were separate. Even if the Supreme court case “Plessy v. Ferguson” set the precedent that separate but equal was correct, I would disagree with that precedent, because they interpreted
In 1896, the Supreme Court was introduced with a case that not only tested both levels of government, state and federal, but also helped further establish a precedent that it was built off of. This court case is commonly known as the case that confirmed the doctrine “separate but equal”. This doctrine is a crucial part of our Constitution and more importantly, our history. This court case involved the analysis of amendments, laws, and divisions of power. Plessy v. Ferguson was a significant court case in U.S history because it was shaped by federalism and precedent, which were two key components that were further established and clarified as a result of the Supreme Court’s final decision.
Before the Civil War, blacks suffered oppression: slaves to the white man and unable to prosper as individuals. However as Marilyn Kern-Foxworth, author of Aunt Jemima, Uncle Ben, and Rastus: Blacks in Advertising Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow, explains, “After the Civil War blacks existed free to begin their own communities… and become members of the buying public” (29). With the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, which abolished slavery, and with the 14th Amendment, which established equal protection under the law for African Americans, the black community slowly saw improvements, including economic prosperity. However, even then, they confronted discrimination and humiliation. For instance, many “advertisers created campaigns [using] blacks in their advertisements but in demeaning postures that appealed to the white majority” not African Americans (29). The early 1960s marked a critical time for advancement; the Civil Rights Movement with its boycotts and marches demanded real equality. African American leaders called Jim Crow Laws into question and insisted on the integration of schools, businesses, and public transportation. As Brian L. Goff, Robert E. McCormick and Robert D. Tollinson explain in their piece, “Racial Integration as an Innovation: Empirical Evidence from Sports Leagues,” “the civil rights laws and court rulings in the 1950’s and 60’s are among the major changes in public policy that gradually led to a breakdown of Jim Crow rule in the American south” (16). This pivotal moment within American history provoked profound changes in the ways Americans interacted with each other.
The Plessy v Ferguson case would be overturned, ruling the “separate but equal” law to be unconstitutional. Melba Beals was in school that day and was sent home early with the warning to hurry and stay in groups. Even so, it had been decades since the passing of the Fourteenth Amendment. No much had changed. Melba’s teacher knew that this ruling would cause rage among the citizens of Little Rock and she was right.
Commenting about journalism and equality for black Americans, Phyl Garland, a prominent reporter and journalism professor, said, “After the Civil War there was an enormous burst of energy, a desire to communicate, a desire to connect with black people establishing newspapers...It was the first opportunity to use the written word without fear of reprisal.” From that time forward, black journalists in the United States gained further opportunities in the press and used the media to galvanize support and communicate news relating to the Civil Rights Movement. Civil rights movements can be defined as political campaigns for equality by members of an oppressed group of people and their allies. It is crucial to understand the history of the African American Civil Rights Movement during the mid-1900s to understand how the role of black journalists changed. Before the Civil Rights Movement, blacks were disrespected and underrepresented in society and in the white press, because of racism and the legacy of slavery, persisting long after the Civil War ended in 1865. Emphasizing civil disobedience and non-violent protests, the leaders of the Civil Rights Movement aimed to end race-based segregation and discrimination against black Americans. Journalists and reporters, or people who provide news and analysis to the public through newspapers, television, and radio, documented and called attention to the progress of the movement. Black journalists laid the groundwork for the Civil Rights Movement, and then saw their role and treatment change as the movement advanced.
Separate but Equal doctrine existed long before the Supreme Court accepted it into law, and on multiple occasions it arose as an issue before then. In 1865, southern states passed laws called “Black Codes,” which created restrictions on the freed African Americans in the South. This became the start of legal segregation as juries couldn’t have African Americans, public schools became segregated, and African Americans had restrictions on testifying against majorities. In 1887, Jim Crow Laws started to arise, and segregation becomes rooted into the way of life of southerners (“Timeline”). Then in 1890, Louisiana passed the “Separate Car Act.” This forced rail companies to provide separate rail cars for minorities and majorities. If a minority sat in the wrong car, it cost them $25 or 20 days in jail. Because of this, an enraged group of African American citizens had Homer Plessy, a man who only had one eighth African American heritage, purchase a ticket and sit in a “White only” c...
...of religion, the freedom to assemble and civil rights such as the right to be free from discrimination such as gender, race, religion, and sexual orientation. Throughout history, African Americans have endured discrimination, segregation, and racism and have progressively gained rights and freedoms by pushing civil rights movement across America. This paper addressed several African American racial events that took place in our nation’s history. These events were pivotal and ultimately led to the establishment of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. The Civil Rights Act paved the way for future legislation that was not limited to African American civil rights and is considered a landmark piece of legislation that ending racism, segregation and discrimination throughout the United States.
Despite the 14th and 15th constitutional amendments that guarantee citizenship and voting right regardless of race and religion, southern states, in practice, denied African Americans the right to vote by setting up literacy tests and charging a poll tax that was designed only to disqualify them as voters. In 1955, African Americans still had significantly less political power than their white counterparts. As a result, they were powerless to prevent the white from segregating all aspects of their lives and could not stop racial discrimination in public accommodations, education, and economic opportunities. Following the 1954 Supreme Court’s ruling in Brown vs. Board of Education that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional, it remained a hot issue in 1955. That year, however, it was the murder of the fourteen-year-old Emmett Louis Till that directed the nation’s attention to the racial discrimination in America.
The 1950s was a great success for the civil rights movement; there were a number of developments which greatly improved the lives of black people in America and really started the civil rights movement, as black people became more confident and willing to fight for their cause. The first big development of the ‘50s came almost immediately at the turn of the decade, when the Supreme Court essentially overturned the verdict reached in the Plessy vs. Ferguson trial of 1896. Thanks to the NAACP lawyers, the Supreme Court made three decisions regarding civil rights which not only showed that at times the government was on the black side, but also almost completely overturned the ‘separate but equal’ idea that had been followed for 54 years. The next big step in the civil rights movement came in 1954, with the BROWN vs. BOARD OF EDUCATION OF TOPEKA case, where Thurgood Marshall, representing Brown, argued that segregation was against the 4th Amendment of the American constitution.
States ratified Jim Crow laws to legally segregate whites from blacks and they created separate schools, facilities, parks, and other separated places. When Plessy was arrested, he petitioned the Louisiana Supreme Court against Ferguson in order “to stop the proceedings against him for criminal violation of the state law.” (Handout) Yet again, the Louisiana Supreme Court refused and he went to the Supreme Court of the United States. The arguments in this case involve the 13th Amendment, which took away slavery and the Equal Protection clause of the 14 Amendment, which “prohibits states from denying any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” When this went to the Supreme Court of the United States, Plessy was brought to court against Judge John H. Ferguson. (http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/equal_protection) Was a state law requiring separate accommodations a violation of equal protection? Should the St...
The Dred Scott decision stated that all African Americans, free or enslaved, were not considered citizens of the United States. This strengthened the push for anti-slavery in the North. This decision lead to many events in history to help African Americans gain their civil rights. Although this case expanded slavery and the tension between the Northern and Southern states, it was one of the most influential cases in American history. The Plessy v. Ferguson case established the "separate but equal" principle.The Plessy v. Ferguson doctrine required that any separate facilities were constitutional as long as they were equal . This case made segregation legal but, it was overruled in the Brown v. Board of Education case. The Brown v. Board of Education decision was a major legal victory in the Civil Rights Movement. The Brown v. Board of Education case had challenged the principles of "separate but equal" in 1954. This case resulted in the integration of schools and realization that all forms of segregation are wrong.
This case was brought to the Supreme Court with Plessey’s argument being that his 13th and 14th Amendments was being violated. But Louisiana argued that the 14th Amendment states that everyone is to be treated equally and that is exactly what happened. They said that the cars were separate but equal and that abided by the Constitution while keeping the Jim Crow laws. The Supreme Court decided that no law was violated and took the state’s side. The Court upheld Plessey’s conviction, and ruled that the 14th Amendment guarantees the right to “equal facilities,” not the “same facilities.” In this ruling, the Supreme Court created the principle of “separate but equal,”(“Judicial Review”,
Because of the 13th and 14th Amendments freeing slaves and granting equal protection under the law grants Jon the same rights to ride the train as any other citizen. Santa Clara County v. Southern Public Railroad, Even though the case was not about the 14th Amendment, Justice Morrison Remick Waite made it so by arguing that corporations must comply with the 14th Amendment. Santa Clara County v. Southern Public Railroad, 118 U.S. 394 (1886). Plessy v. Ferguson, Homer Plessy sat in a whites-only train car, he was asked to move to the car reserved for blacks, because state law mandated segregation. The court held that segregation is not necessarily unlawful discrimination as long as the races are treated equally. The impact of Plessy was to relegate blacks to second-class citizenship. Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 (1896). However, this is not equal
The Supreme Court was important in both suppressing and aiding the Civil Rights Movement. However, decisions taken by the President, the continued white opposition and improvements in media communications also had an effect. Although all were important, the Civil Rights movement alone would have reached the same end without the help of the Supreme Court, and the devotion of its many members and leaders is the major factor in advancing Civil Rights.
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 ...