Mrs. Schubert
Mr. Pezino
US History Collab – 2nd period
March 27, 2013
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Mrs. Schubert reminded the students will be able to make test corrections this week
at tutorial.
For the test corrections:
Multiple choice
o Write down question
o Write out correct answer
o Explain why it is correct
Matching term
o Write term
o Write out correct definition/example
Mrs. Schubert discussed Brown v. Board of Education Case.
The class read the background of the case and then answered the following
questions:
Questions:
1. What right does the Fourteenth Amendment give citizens? It give equal protection under the law –
every citizen will be treated the same.
2. What problems did Linda Brown encounter in Topeka that eventually resulted in this case? She was
denied the right to go to a school closer to her home because of segregation/discrimination.
3. What precedent did the Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) ruling establish? How was that precedent related
to Brown? Separate but equal doctrine. It was stated that the school were separate but equal.
4. This case is based on what the concept of "equality" means. What are the conflicting points of view
on this concept in this case? Brown’s side said that everything wasn’t equal and the other side said
that they were separate but equal.
How the Case Moved through the Court System
Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
The following is a list of arguments in the Brown v. Board of Education court case. Read through
each argument and decide whether it supports Brown's side against segregation (LB), Board of
Education of Topeka's position in favor of segregation (TOP), or both sides (BOTH). Then, explain
how it supports either/both sides.
1. The Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution states:
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"No State shall . . . deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."
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The Fourteenth Amendment precludes a state from imposing distinctions based upon race.
Racial segregation in public schools reduces the benefits of public education to one group solely
on the basis of race and is unconstitutional.
Brown; supports the argument because it provides equal conditions for everyone and that the
schools were not equal.
2. The Fourteenth Amendment states that people should be treated equally; it does not state that
people should be treated the same. Treating people equally means giving them what they need.
This could include providing an educational environment in which they are most comfortable
learning. White students are probably more comfortable learning with other white students;
black students are probably more comfortable learning with other black students. These
students do not have to attend the same schools to be treated equally under the law; they must
simply be given an equal environment for learning. The U.S. District Court found that the
facilities provided for black children in Topeka were equal to those of white children.
Topeka – separate but equal facilities are okay and the state can make that decision.
3. Psychological studies have shown that segregation has negative effects on black children. By
segregating white students from black students, a badge of inferiority is placed on the black
students, a system of separation beyond school is perpetuated, and the unequal benefits
accorded to white students as a result of their informal contacts with one another is reinforced.
The U.S. District Court found that segregation did have negative effects on black children.
Brown – because it shows that if you separate the children, then the children could feel
inferior and that something was wrong with them.
4. No psychological studies have been done on children in the Topeka, Kansas school district. The
findings of the psychological studies that demonstrate the negative effects of segregation
cannot be stretched to the Topeka school district. There is no indication of personal harm to the
appellants.
Topeka; because there were no studies on Linda Brown, there was no information to prove
that it harmed the children.
5. In 1896 the Supreme Court of the United States decided the case of Plessy v. Ferguson. The
Court declared that the legal separation of the races did not automatically imply that the black
race was inferior. Legislation and court rulings could not overcome social prejudices, according
to Justice Brown. "If one race be inferior to the other socially, the constitution of the United
States cannot put them on the same plane."
Topeka; the Constitution doesn’t have an obligation to change people’s social opinion.
6. In 1950 the Supreme Court of the United States decided the case of Sweatt v. Painter. In this
case Herman Sweatt was rejected from the University of Texas Law School because he was
black. He sued school officials alleging a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment rights. The
Court examined the educational opportunities at the University of Texas Law School and a new
law school at the Texas State University for Negroes and determined that the facilities, curricula,
faculty and other tangible factors were not equal. Furthermore, the justices argued that other
factors such as the reputation of the faculty and position and influence of the alumni could not
be equalized. They therefore ruled in favor of Sweatt.
Brown; showed that the conditions were not equal and the same as well as harmful.
7. The United States has a federal system of government that leaves educational decision making
to state and local legislatures.
Topeka; the state knows what is best for their state and its students.
8. At the time the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution was drafted, widespread public
education had not yet taken hold. Education was usually in the hands of private organizations.
Most black children received no education at all. It is unlikely that those involved with passing
the Fourteenth Amendment thought about its implications for education.
Topeka; because the Framers did not intend for the 14th amendment did not apply to
education.
9. Housing and schooling have become interdependent. The segregation of schools has reinforced
segregation in housing, making it likely that a change in school admission policies will have a
dramatic effect on neighborhoods, placing a heavy burden on local government to deal with the
changes. The local conditions of an area must be taken into consideration.
Topeka; there could be a social change with black families moving into white neighborhoods
and there could be violence and negative problems with the integration.
Key Excerpts from the Majority Opinion, Brown I (1954)
The decision was unanimous. Chief Justice Earl Warren delivered the opinion of the Court.
. . . Here . . . there are findings below that the Negro and white schools involved have been equalized, or
are being equalized, with respect to buildings, curricula, qualifications, and salaries of teachers, and other
"tangible" factors. Our decision, therefore, cannot turn on merely a comparison of these tangible factors in
the Negro and white schools involved in each of these cases. We must look instead to the effect of
segregation itself on public education...
Today, education is perhaps the most important function of state and local governments. Compulsory
school attendance laws and the great expenditures for education both demonstrate our recognition of the
importance of education to our democratic society. . . . Today it is a principal instrument in awakening the
child to cultural values, in preparing him for later professional training, and in helping him to adjust
normally to his environment. In these days, it is doubtful that any child may reasonably be expected to
succeed in life if he is denied the opportunity of an education. Such an opportunity, where the state has
undertaken to provide it, is a right which must be made available to all on equal terms. . . .
To separate them [children in grade and high schools] from others of similar age and qualifications solely
because of their race generates a feeling of inferiority as to their status in the community that may affect
their hearts and minds in a way unlikely to ever be undone. . . . Whatever may have been the extent of
psychological knowledge at the time of Plessy v. Ferguson, this finding is amply supported by modern
authority. . . .
We conclude that in the field of public education the doctrine of "separate but equal" has no place.
Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal. Therefore, we hold that the plaintiffs and other
similarly situated . . . are . . . deprived of the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the Fourteenth
Amendment.
Questions:
1. In Chief Justice Warren's opinion, how valuable is education? Why?
It is very important because any child who does not have a good education will be denied the
right to succeed.
2. What does the Court mean by the "tangible" factors of equality? Are these tangible factors the
only factors the Court considered when determining whether the Fourteenth Amendment was
violated? The Court is referring to “tangible” factors as things you can see and touch –
buildings, curricula and books. No, the Court is not just considering tangible factors when
making this decision because they have to look at the effects of segregation in the schools
first.
3. According to the Supreme Court of the United States, what "intangible" factors play a role in
whether school facilities are truly equal?
The intangible factors are things that you cannot see or touch; the Supreme Court is referring to
the psychological and emotional (inferiority and not feeling good enough) factors on the students.
4. Can you find any weaknesses in the basis of the Court's decision?
There could be negative effects such as violence in certain areas of the country such as the South.
5. What would your school be like if Brown had been decided differently and Plessy had never
been reversed? How would education be different for white and African American students?
Not that much different as we never had segregation in California; however, there is not as
much as a diverse population here.
6. Do you think that there are still consequences resulting from schools being segregated in the
past? Yes, I think that there are still some prejudices in certain parts of the country that have
carried over from the past segregation. Although schools are not segregated, there are still
social and personal opinions (from family beliefs) that still may be carried over the
generations.
Effects of Brown v. Board of Education: The Little Rock Crisis
•Nine black students were admitted to Little Rock Central High School
•Opposition was so violent, President Eisenhower sent in the National Guard to protect black students
from mobs.
Outcome: Mixed Success
•Brown v. Board II required desegregation with “all deliberate speed.”
•Brown integrated schools, but Southern states resisted desegregation for several years.
•KKK membership increased in the Deep South.
Little Rock Crisis Timeline
September 1927 -- Little Rock Senior (renamed Central in 1953) High School opens its doors for the
first time. The school cost more than $1.5 million to construct.
September 1929 -- Paul Laurence Dunbar High School, the high school for African American
students, opens. The school cost $400,000 of which the Rosenwald Foundation donated $67,500
and $30,000 came from the Rockefeller General Education Fund.
May 17, 1954 -- The United States Supreme Court rules racial segregation in public schools is
unconstitutional in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. Five days later, the Little Rock School
Board issues a policy statement saying it will comply with the Supreme Court's decision. In May
1955, The Supreme Court further defines the standard of implementation for integration as being
"with all deliberate speed," in Brown II and charges the federal courts with establishing guidelines for
compliance.
August 23, 1954 -- Under the direction of Pine Bluff attorney Wiley Branton, chairman of the state's
NAACP Legal Redress Committee, the NAACP petitions the Little Rock School Board for immediate
integration.
May 24, 1955 -- The Little Rock School Board adopts the Blossom Plan of gradual integration
beginning with the high school level (starting in September 1957) and the lower grades during the
next six years.
August 27, 1957 -- The segregationist Mother's League of Central High School holds its first public
meeting. They file a motion seeking a temporary injunction against school integration. Two days
later, Pulaski Chancellor Murray Reed grants the injunction on the grounds that integration could
lead to violence. Federal Judge Ronald Davies nullifies the injunction and orders the School Board
to proceed with its desegregation plan.
September 2, 1957 (Labor Day) -- Governor Orval Faubus orders the Arkansas National Guard to
prohibit African American students from entering Central High School and announces his plans in a
televised speech.
September 23, 1957 -- An angry mob of over 1,000 whites gathers in front of Central High School,
while nine African American students are escorted inside. The Little Rock police remove the nine
children for their safety. President Eisenhower calls the rioting "disgraceful" and ordered federal
troops into Little Rock.
September 24, 1957 -- 1,200 members of the 101st Airborne Division, the "Screaming Eagles" of
Fort Campbell, Kentucky, roll into Little Rock. The Arkansas National Guard is placed under federal
orders.
September 25, 1957 -- Under troop escort, the "Little Rock Nine" are escorted back into Central
High School for their first full day of classes.
May 25, 1958 -- Senior Ernest Green becomes the first African American student to graduate from
Central High School.
June 3, 1958 -- Highlighting numerous discipline problems during the school year, the school board
asks the court for permission to delay the desegregation plan in Cooper v. Aaron.
June 21, 1958 -- Judge Harry Lemley grants the delay of integration until January 1961, stating that
while the African American students have a constitutional right to attend white schools, the "time has
not come for them to enjoy [that right.]"
September 12, 1958 -- Under appeal, the United States Supreme Court rules that Little Rock must
continue with its desegregation plan. The School Board orders the high schools to open September
15. Governor Faubus orders four Little Rock high schools closed as of 8:00 a.m., September 15,
1958, pending the outcome of a public vote.
September 16, 1958 -- The Women's Emergency Committee to Open Our Schools (WEC) forms
and begins to solicit support for reopening the schools.
September 27, 1958 -- Citizens vote 19,470 to 7,561 against integration and the schools remain
closed.
May 5, 1959 -- Segregationist members of the school board vote not to renew the contracts of 44
teachers and administrators they say supported integration.
May 8, 1959 -- The WEC and local businessmen form Stop This Outrageous Purge (STOP) and
solicit voter signatures to recall the three segregationist board members. Segregationists form the
Committee to Retain Our Segregated Schools (CROSS).
May 25, 1959 -- STOP wins the recall election in close victory. Three segregationists are voted off
the school board and three moderate members are retained.
August 12, 1959 -- Little Rock public high schools reopen, nearly a month early. Segregationists
rally at the State Capitol where Faubus advises them that it was a "dark" day, but they should not
give up the struggle. They then march to Central High School were the police and fire departments
break up the mob. Twenty-one people are arrested.
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Mrs. Schubert reminded the students that their final drafts of their research papers
are due to www.turnitin.com by Sunday night (see information below).
The class watched part of the video entitled, “Eyes on the Prize.”
If a student has a question about the class or an assignment, just go to Mrs.
Schubert’s website. Simply go to www.lghs.net, under department, go to Social
Studies, find Mrs. Schubert’s name, and click on the 2nd period class.
Homework:
 Malcolm X/Martin Luther King, Jr. “Speech Comparison” due Friday
 Research Paper – Final Draft – due on Friday
o (by 11:59 p.m. on Sunday through www.turnitin.com
o Class I.D.: 608168
o Password: historyrocks