Brown V. Board of Education and Civil Rights

In this case, (which was paramount to the improvement of race relations in the entire country) the supreme court ruled to end the racial segregation of public schools. In other words, Brown has triggered a movement for the civil rights of African American citizens to be treated equally in public schools. This movement allowed African Americans to have an equal and diverse education to where they can get the same knowledge as white citizens. This landmark case has affected the United States in a positive, long-lasting way, as it allowed our society to take a step towards an equal, diverse community.

What led to the formation of the Brown v. Board of Education case, is a prior court case known as Plessy v. Ferguson that is best summarized as the term “separate but equal”, meaning that both races are offered the exact same facilities and supplies, however, blacks and whites are not allowed to use each others things, for example, water fountains, bathrooms, schools, buses, etc. Brown v. Board of Education was brought to court because a man named Oliver Brown filed a court case against the Board of Education because his “daughter, Linda Brown, was denied entrance to Topeka’s all-white elementary schools.” In his historically significant lawsuit, he claims that black schools are not equal to white schools and that African Americans are not protected by the law that is represented by the 14th amendment.

The United States Supreme Court's decision in the case Brown v. Board of Education has become a significant turning point in the history of race relations in America. “On May 17, 1954, the Court stripped away constitutional sanctions for segregation by race, and made equal opportunity in education the law of the land.” Brown v. Board Education case has been very motivational for other black communities across the United States who also wanted to strive for equal rights for themselves and their children. These communities include: Clarendon County, Topeka, Farmville, New Castle County, and Challenge to Jim Crow in the Nation’s Capital.

Brown v. Board of Education court case has positively impacted the United States to this present day. Today, our country is even more diverse than the past. African Americans have equal rights and our schools are more open to having a diverse community consisting of all people, regardless of their race or religion. Continuing on, providing a high level education in general to everyone is a right to all humans and should be always fought for, rather than letting the color of our skin or our religion stop us from being educated human beings. This we can help our society grow to having a better successful future. After all that’s what Brown was striving for, for his daughter to grow in a well educated community.

This case was an attempt to fix the inequalities that has been an issue in the past in our country, as a result “we have looked to cases like Brown and legislation such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to level the playing field and recognize each of us not as black, brown, white or other but simply as Americans.”Therefore, Brown v. Board of Education case is a significant case to our society as whole because it provides us, as humans and citizens, to be treated equally and have rights in the way we are educated, and with that being said, this case lit some people’s fire so they can speak up and protect their given rights as provided in the 1st amendment.

Since stepping into office in 2008, Barack Obama was mostly working towards everyone (disregarding their own race or ethnicity) having equal rights,yet studies have shown that low income and African Americans still “lack equal access to high-quality education” even though a lot of effort has been done to ensure that everyone has equal rights, African Americans still fall behind in classes unlike their white peers. However, with the direction that president Obama has taken the white house movement on educational excellence for African Americans is working to help support the promise of Brown and to continue on the fight for African American educational rights.

Although the court's decision in Brown was unanimous, it only got the result that it did because of all the arduous, lengthy campaign to convince all nine justices to change the “separate but equal” doctrine. Brown v. Board of Education was not a single case, it had the help of all other cases to help prove that equality in education is an important and civil to all races. With that being said our world today still struggles to provide that type of education to everyone.

In conclusion, this case was the very essence of both modern and past forms of civil protest. This case continues to fuel the vision of the American people of today being treated equally and fairly regardless of their race and/or ethnicity. It also changed the way politics were made in the country by introducing another essential need for Americans to be equal by making those in power responsible for this to be accomplished as well as the common man (which is reflected in the aforementioned example). Lastly, (yet certainly not the least) it is one of the founding elements of the modern American standard of tolerance and coexistence, which in turn made it possible for us Americans to masterfully build up the surroundings in which we live in today.

Works Cited

1. ""Remembering the Promise of Brown vs. Board of Education."" ED.gov Blog. 29 May 2013. 07 Apr. 2019 .
2. Clarendon County - Separate Is Not Equal. 07 Apr. 2019 .
3. Separate Is Not Equal - Brown v. Board of Education, americanhistory.si.edu/brown/history/.
4. Editors, History.com. “Brown v. Board of Education.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 27 Oct. 2009, www.history.com/topics/black-history/brown-v-board-of-education-of-topeka.
5. ""Landmark: Brown v. Board of Education."" NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. 07 Apr. 2019 .

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