Brown+V.+Board.

// BROWN V. BOARD OF EDUCATION //

People in Topeka Kansas, specifically Oliver Brown and 13 other parents from Topeka complained that segregated elementary schools had "harmful psychological effects " on the segregated African Americans. Topeka had 14 schools for white students and only four for the black students. They also said it violated the 14th amendment. Brown V. Board was combined with other cases of similar nature under the name //Oliver Brown et al. v. the Board of Education of Topeka.// In the Plessy case, the Supreme court had "misinterpreted the equal protection clause" of the 14th amendment. Equal protection of the laws did not allow segregation. The 14th amendment allowed gov't to prohibit "discriminatory state action based on race." also no segregation or discrimination in schools. 14th amendment didnt specifically say weather the states would be able make segregated education. Testing on the psychological effects of seperation of african americans from whites resulted in harmful results to their minds. **MAIN ARGUMENTS OF THE DEFENDANTS (for segregation) (check [|Link 1])** The Constitution did not require white and black children to attend same schools. It is a regional custom to keep white and black students seperated, states should be left to decide if they should be seperated or not. Segregation was not harmful to blacks. Whites were making an effort to equalize education. Becuase black people were still living with the effects of slavery, it would take time for them to be of the same intelligence. The Supreme Court decided they would hear the case. The nine judges were divided by their different opinions. Chief Justice Fred Vinson along with others doubted the constitutional authority of the Court. He believed they couldn’t end segregation of schools. But then, he died in 1935 and the case was still going on. President Eisenhower appointed a new chief justice. This man was Earl Warren. He produced a unanimous decision to overturn // Plessy //.
 * BASIC FACTS OF THE CASES (more than one) (check video, [|Link 1], [|Link 2], [|Link 3])**
 * MAIN ARGUMENTS OF THE PLAINTIFF (for integration) (check [|Link 1])**
 * THE CHANGE IN THE COURT (leading to a decision) (check [|Link 1])**

**THE COURT DECISION** (in your own words) (check [|Link 1] and Link 2) Chief Justice Earl Warren came to a desicion. He believed that it was not clear whether the framers of the Fourteenth Amendment wanted segregated public education. He said that more importantly, the present was the issue not the past. He believed education was vital. Racial segregation of any kind deprived African Americans of equal protection under the 14 Amendment. The //Brown// decision declared the system of segregation unconstitutional.

**ENFORCING THE DECISION (discuss "with all deliberate speed) (Check [|Link 1] ****)** The Court ordered only that the states end segregation with “all deliberate speed.” But there was a vagueness, and this vagueness was all segregationists needed to gain resistance. Whites mainly welcomed the //Brown// decision, but some took it as an assault on their way of life. Segregationists created a campaign of resistance.

This court case showed that white southerners had strong beliefs and were very resistant. Many people were not ready for such an intense amount of resistance. Likewise, these same southerners underestimated the determination of their black neighbors. The court case jump started the attempt for equal rights among all. It spread across the country and many people who felt they were being deprived of equal rights joined a movement called the Civil rights Movement. The movement came to include racial and ethnic minorities, women, people with disabilities, and other groups, each demanding equality. **
 * THE IMPACT and LEGACY** **(Check** [|**Link 1**]**)