Brown and the Board of Education Research Paper

Brown and the Board of Education - Research Paper Example On May 1954, Landmark civil rights decision was issued by the Supreme Court. The decision declared segregated schools as unconstitutional, thus Doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ schools reached an end. In 1992, George W. Bush signed the Public Law to commemorate the Brown decision of 1954. Background: During much of the American history, federal government dealt with racial issues and disparities by drawing an invisible yet authoritative line between black and white populations. One such attempt was the racial segregation or hyper segregation of white and black children in public schools under the Doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ schools. In Brown v. Board of Education case, brown refers to the one of the most famous fathers of America, Oliver Brown. Oliver Brown decided to seek legal redress when his daughter Linda Brown Thompson was refused enrollment in a white elementary school in Topeka, Kansas. Oliver Brown filed the case against segregated schools in 1 951 in Topeka. The following paper traces the footsteps of plaintiffs as well as the origins of one of the most important Supreme Court decision in American history, which not only molded the future of Topeka, but ultimately changed the entire nation. Brown v. Board of Education: In accordance with various sources, Oliver Brown is considered as a Lead Plaintiff in Brown v. Board of Education case. However, Charles Scott Jr. claims that Oliver Brown was not a lead plaintiff but in fact his father along with Mr. Burnett and the NAACP drove the case. It is important to note that the legally mandated, segregation of public schools was not challenged for the first time by the Brown case. Previously, the segregation had also been challenged in the year 1849, by a Boston lawsuit. Furthermore, 11 lawsuits filed cases against legally mandated, segregation of public schools in Kansas, between 1881 and1949. On October 1, 1951, other law suits filed against segregation of school systems in Virg inia, Delaware, South Carolina and District of Columbia. These cases were combined with the Brown case in order to make the overall case strong enough to be presented in America’s highest court. The official name given to the combined cases was Oliver L. Brown et al. v. The Board of Education of Topeka, et al. The case for the Brown plaintiffs was meticulously and authoritatively argued in the Supreme Court by NCAAP legal counsel Thurgood Marshall, who became the first African American to argue a case in the American Supreme Court. On May 17, 1954, a unanimous landmark decision was issued by the United States Supreme Court regarding the Oliver L. Brown et al. v. The Board of Education of Topeka, et al case, which declared the hyper segregation of children in public schools unconstitutional. The Decision was read by Earl Warren, who at that time was the Supreme Court Chief Justice. Following is part of the statement he read: â€Å"We conclude that in the field of public educa tion the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal. Therefore, we hold that the plaintiffs and others similarly situated for whom the actions have been brought are, by reason of the segregation complained of, deprived of the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the 14th Amendment.† (Patterson et al 2001). The Supreme Court declared that racial segregation has a detrimental effect not only on African American children