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Brown V Board Education
Brown V Board Education
Board of Education
A rally at the Arkansas Capitol in
Arkansas.
Editor's Note: Slavery ended in 1865, but segregation laws based on race soon Annotations
followed. In 1896, the United States Supreme Court allowed racial
segregation in the case of Plessy v. Ferguson. The 14th Amendment of the
Constitution requires that people have equal protection under the laws.
However, in the Plessy case, the court said the 14th Amendment did not forbid
segregation. The court said segregation was allowed if the separate offerings
for different races were equal.
In Brown v. Board of Education, the court overruled the "separate but equal"
principle. The court said that the Constitution did not allow for separating
children of different races in public schools. This ruling ended legal racial
segregation in U.S. schools. On May 17, 1954, Chief Justice Earl Warren wrote
the Supreme Court's decision, to which all the other justices agreed. Below are
key parts of the ruling.
2 The plaintiffs argue that segregated public schools are not equal and
cannot be made equal. They argue that this too goes against the 14th
Amendment.
5 In this case, the Negro and white schools are equal in many ways. Such
ways include the buildings, the subjects taught, and the quality and salaries of
their teachers. Our decision, therefore, cannot be based on a comparison of the
schools themselves. We must examine the effect of segregation on public
education.
8 To separate children from others of similar age and ability just because
of their race harms the Negro children. It makes these children feel that they are
not as good as white children. This feeling may affect their hearts and minds in
a way unlikely ever to be undone.
10 We conclude that the idea of "separate but equal" has no place in public
education. Separate public schools cannot be equal. Therefore, we hold that the
plaintiffs have been denied the equal protection of the laws. The same is true for
all Negro children who have been denied admission to public schools because of
segregation. Because of this segregation, the 14th Amendment has been
neglected in this case.
It is so ordered.
1.) What is the MOST likely reason Justice Warren included the wording in Paragraph #6 regarding education
“necessary to our democratic society”?
a. He wanted to repeat his ideas in relation to government spending on education
b. He wanted to emphasize that educating all citizens is the duty of a fair and just nation
c. He wanted to explain the role that governments have had in creating educated democracies
d. He wanted to give credit to the local governments that had opposed segregation
2.) Fill in the blank: Justice Warren MAINLY explains the importance of integrated education by…
a. Citing facts about the number of students dropping out
b. Describing a scene from an integrated school
c. Explaining the negative effects on “Negro” students
d. Exploring what other countries think of segregation
3.) Read the sentence below from Paragraph #10:
Because of this segregation, the 14th Amendment has been neglected in this case…
Which option is the BEST definition of “neglected” as used in the sentence?
a. Ignored
b. Reviewed
c. Followed
d. Judged
If everything was equal, as in schools all had the exact same amount of money and resources for
every student and ability to pay for quality teachers, do you think segregated schools would work?
Should we go back to that? Why or why not? Explain.