Many may ask how a simple court case can affect the power of our government. The Brown vs. Board of Education was a particular case that made a large impact on history and affected our government greatly. This case changed the overall idea and issue of segregation in schools and even changed the constitution itself. From beginning to end the court made a large impact on our country today by getting through many obstacles and persevering through them all in order to get the justice Brown and many other needed. This whole case started because of one man named Oliver Brown.
Leading up to this case, segregation of African American people was an issue for almost 60 years. To begin his movement on this important act, he had an experience in his own life that made it clear to him that he had to do something. Brown, being a black man himself, had believed that once the law was passed in the constitution that abolished slavery, all acts of segregation would be abolished with it. However, he was proved wrong. It began with the signs for colored and white people only everywhere, then led to an issue with his own daughter.
His daughter was not allowed to attend public school with the white students. “In his lawsuit, Brown claimed that schools for black children were not equal to the white schools, and that segregation violated the so-called “equal protection clause” of the 14th Amendment, which holds that no state can “deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” This resulted in Brown and 5 other cases to step up and go to court. The case went before the U.S. District Court in Kansas, which agreed that segregation in schools had a “detrimental effect upon the colored children” and contributed to “a sense of inferiority,”.
However, the court decided that this segregation still followed all rules and was “separate but equal”. Since this was not, of course, the verdict they were looking for, Brown went on to fight for his rights. After the Governor tried to limit the black people of the town like Brown’s daughter, the president at the time, Dwight D. Eisenhower, deployed troops along with nine students that later became known as the “little rock nine”. After Browns case and 5 others went to the Supreme Court, the overall case then went on under the name of the Brown vs. Board of Education. No matter how far Brown got in this case, he would never let down without the over all law being changed and his daughter being allowed in schools. Once the black rock nine began to take action there was a lot of backlash and hate towards the movement and his daughter.
Brown then went on to a second case, leading to the desegregation of more schools faster which was the ultimate beginning to all desegregation ending. Although they were progressing with the case and fighting for the freedom, the court still upheld the “separate but equal” rule. Having ruled that the Fourteenth Amendment included a guarantee of equal treatment in the area of education, the Supreme Court next had to ensure that state efforts were consistent with the objectives. The troops were involved to protect the children involved but still did not protect them from the constant never ending news of disapproval.
Many schools including schools in Virginia closed their doors because they were not accepting the integration of schools. The combination of these cases sent a clear message that the Court would no longer tolerate a too deliberate approach to integration. The Court eventually let northern school districts know that their policies would undergo the same close scrutiny facing southern schools. In the North, however, the challenge was somewhat more complex. School segregation was rarely the result of local or state law, or the result of explicit district policy.
More often it was due to officials practice, rather than official policy. That racial imbalance was often the result of unofficial decisions made by district officials. Racial imbalance became less common and was an issue of only certain schools within a district. This all meant that it would be difficult to prove a system-wide discriminatory practice warranting district-wide judicial intervention. The Court held that evidence of discriminatory action in one part of the district justified a conclusion of district-wide discriminatory practice. The burden would lie with the district to prove otherwise. Finally, in 1992, the Court suggested that it would remain invested in local policies until all vestiges of past discriminatory behavior were eliminated.
The Court held that even though the University of Mississippi currently maintained “race-neutral policies,” vestiges of its former discriminatory practices remained. After this all occurred black people around the nation finally began to see a change. Brown went on to completely change the southern states and in general, the idea of the whole nation.
In 1976, the Supreme Court issued another movement in ruling that even private, nonsectarian schools that denied admission to students on the basis of race violated federal civil rights laws. By overturning the “separate but equal” doctrine, the Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education would be used to overturn laws enforcing segregation in other public facilities. But despite its undoubted impact, the historic verdict fell short of achieving its primary mission of integrating the nation’s public schools.
This fight with segregation was far from over but still a large improvement. Today, more than 60 years after Brown v. Board of Education, the debate still continues over how racial inequalities in the nation’s school system, are largely based on residential patterns and differences in resources between schools in wealthier and economically disadvantaged districts across the country. That being said our world has made much improvement starting from the movement after this case to having the first black president. Much effort was put into the movement as well coming from Brown, Rosa Parks, and of course, Martin Luther King Jr. Without this case the world would not be the same place we see today. There were many fights and battles in every place around the country that needed to be fought in order to be where we are today. This cases highly impacted school systems in particular so we would not have the same educational style we have today if it was for Brown speaking up and taking action with the help of people around him, the little rock nine and surprisingly the courts in the end.
This never ending battle has overall changed the government as a whole. In conclusion, this case changed the overall idea and issue of segregation in schools and even changed the constitution itself. From beginning to end, the court made a large impact on our country today. Without the impact of this case the education system would be much different then we see in life today.
