Education Barriers

Instructions:

Step 1: Choose
a leader for
this round.
Step 2: Leader
reads aloud
the
Background.
Background:
With the Supreme Court decision in Brown v. board, the
federal government had ordered the desegregation of
schools to occur, with all deliberate speed. In September
1957, Arkansas Governor Orville Faubus used the Arkansas
National Guard to prevent nine black children from entering
Central High School in Little Rock. Melba Pattillo Beals, one of
the nine, wanted to attend Central high because she wanted
a good education at one of the best schools in the country.
Even though a federal district court ordered Governor Faubus
to comply with the Brown v. Board of Education, Faubus
refused to protect rights of the nine African American
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students. Finally, President Eisenhower called in the National

Guard, took direct command of the state guard, and sent the
101st Airborne Division to enforce integration of Central high.
He did this in part because the news coverage of Little Rock
made citizens across the nations feel indignant and horrified.
Also, he could not allow the argument of states rights to
overrule federal law. The army had to escort the students
into the school through angry mobs and had to protect them
throughout the remainder of the school year.

Step 3: Take turns reading aloud; Brown

v. Board of Education, Little Rock
Nine, Regents of the University of
California v. Bakke, and California Prop
209.

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas

1954
BACKGROUND
In the early 1950s, racial segregation in public schools was
the norm across America. Although all the schools in a given
district were supposed to be equal, most black schools were
far inferior to their white counterparts.
In Topeka, Kansas, a black third-grader named Linda Brown
had to walk one mile through a railroad switchyard to get to
her black elementary school, even though the white
elementary school was only seven blocks away. Lindas
father, Oliver Brown, tried to enroll her in the white
elementary school, but the principal of the school refused.
Brown went to McKinley Burnett, the head of Topekas
branch of the National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People (NAACP) and asked for help. The NAACP was
eager to assist the browns, as it had long wanted to
challenge segregation in public schools wanting to as being
in violation of the Fourteen Amendment . . .equal
protection clause. Other black parents joined Brown, and, in
1951, the NAACP, led by a bright young lawyer, Thurgood
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Marshall, requested an injunction that would forbid the

segregation of Topekas public schools.
THE COURTS DECISION
On May 17, 1954, Chief Justice Earl Warren read the decision
of the unanimous Court: We come then to the questions
presented: Does segregation of children in public schools
solely on the basis of race, even though the physical
facilities and other tangible factors may be equal, deprive
the children of the minority group of equal educational
opportunities? We believe that it does 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
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 Fourteenth Amendment.

The Supreme Court struck down the separate but equal

doctrine of Plessy for public education, ruled in favor of the
plaintiffs, and required the desegregation of schools across
America.

Thurgood Marshall: Warrior for Civil Rights

After the Brown case, Marshall had established himself as the
nations leading civil rights advocate. On October 2, 1967,
Thurgood Marshall was sworn in as the first African American
Supreme Court justice. Here are his thoughts and words on
civil rights:

Thurgood Marshall Quotes

A child born to a black mother in a
state like Mississippiborn to the
dumbest, poorest sharecropperby
merely drawing its first breath in the
democracy has exactly the same right
as a white baby born to the wealthiest
person in the United States. Its not
true, but I challenge anyone to say its
not a goal worth working for.
A man can make what he wants of
himself if he truly believes that he
must be ready for hard work and many
heart breaks.

The United States has been called the

melting pot of the world. But it seems
to me that the colored man either
missed getting into the pot or he got
melted down.
None of us got where we were solely
by pulling themselves up by our
bootstraps. We got here because
somebody a parent, a teacher, or a
few nuns-bent down and helped us
pick up our boots.

Little Rock Nine in Their Own Words

Elizabeth Eckford (1957) I tried to see a friendly face
somewhere in the mob. . . . I looked into the face of an old woman,
and it seemed a kind face, but when I looked at her again, she spat
at me.
Melba Beals
(1957) In speaking
for the group, I
might also say, that
there are moral
standards mixed in this. We feel that it is right to go, because it is
an institution supported by taxes which our parents participate in;
we do feel we have a right to go.
Gloria Ray (1957) Somebody just walked up really close to me
and whack, and before I knew it, this stuff was coming out of my
eyesat the time I didnt wear glassesand I was walking down
the hall. You expect to be shot, I thought I would be my dress, but
there was this incredible pain in my eyes, the most awful pain I had
everand I just dropped my books and started screaming,
screaming, screaming, screamingall I could do was scream.
Jefferson Thomas (1997) It became even more important to
graduate because I guess I had to prove something to myself that I
wouldnt cave or give in under stress or adversity, that I was as
though as, you know, any teenager, going to say Im tough, I can
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take anything you can dish out and as long as I can take it, Im
better than you are.

Regents of the University of California v. Bakke

(1978)
BACKGROUND OF THE CASE
Beginning in the early 1970s, the medical school of the
University of California at Davis used a two-part admissions
program for the 100 students entering each year; a regular
admissions program and a special admissions program. The
purpose of this program was to
try to increase the number of
minority and disadvantaged
students in the class, so the 16
spots in the special admissions
program were reserved for
qualified minority and disadvantage students.
Allan Bakke was a white male who applied to and was
rejected from the regular admissions program in 1973 and
1974. Bakke filed suit in the Superior Court of Yolo Country,
California, claiming that the special admission program
violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth
Amendment and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
because it excluded him on a basis of race. He wanted the
Court to force the University of California at Davis to admit
him to the medical school.

THE COURTS DECISION

Justice Powell delivered the opinion of the Court:
. . . The special admissions program is undeniably a
classification based on race and ethnic background. They
guarantees of the Fourteenth Amendment extend to all
persons. Its language is explicit: No State shall . . . deny to
any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the
laws. . . . The guarantee of equal protection cannot mean
one thing when applied to one individual and something else
when applied to a person of another color. If both are not
accorded the same protection, then it is not equal. Petitioner
(U.C Regents) urges us to adopt . . . more restrictive view of
the Equal Protection Clause and hold that discrimination
against members of the white majority cannot be suspect
if its purpose can be characterized as benign(not really
causing any damage).
. . . We have held that in order to justify that . . . in order to
discriminate on the basis of race, a State must show that its
purpose . . . is both constitutionally permissible and
substantial and that its use of the classification is
necessary . . . to the accomplishment of its purpose. . . .
The special admissions program purports to serve the
purposes of: (i) reducing the historic deficit of traditionally
disfavored minorities in medical schools and in the medical
profession, . . . (ii) countering the effects of. . .
discrimination; (iii) increasing the number of physicians who
will practice in communities currently underserved; and (iv)
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obtaining the educational benefits that come from an

ethnically diverse student body.
. . . In summary, it is evident that the Davis special admissions program
involves the use of an explicit racial classification never before
countenanced by this Court Race or ethnic background may be deemed a
plus in a particular applicants file, yet it does not insulate the individual
from comparison with all other candidates for the available seats. With
respect to respondents entitlement to an injunction directing his admission
to the Medical School. Respondent is entitled to the injunction, and that
portion of the judgment must be affirmed.

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Californias Proposition 209: 1996

In many parts of the United States, the debate over
affirmative action remains important. In 1996, voters in
California approved Proposition 209 to ban the use of
affirmative action in the state. Proposition 209 was
extremely controversial and since its passage, some other
states are considering whether they should ban affirmative
action as well.
The key operative provision of this measure states: The
state shall not discriminate against, or grant preferential
treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race,
sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of
public employment, public education, or public contracting.

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Step 4: Leader asks the discussion questions

below to the group members. If your group is
not able to answer the questions, review the
information again.
Discussion Questions
1. To what extent do you think the actions of the Little Rock
Nine inspired others to join the civil rights movement?
2. If the literacy tests that were given to blacks before voted
were given to whites as well, would they still have been
considered in violation of the 14 th and 15th amendment?
Explain.
3. What trend has the Bakke case started in regards to
righting the wrongs of past discrimination?
4. In what ways has the brown case affected your school
experience?
Step 5: Using the information that you learned
complete the Character Quotes worksheet (Data
Sheet 1).
Step 6: If time permits complete the, Education
Barriers Activity
**** Before you move to the next center please return all items to the
folder.

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