Trident University International

EDU506 Law and Ethics in Education

Ashley Sloper

Module 2 Case Assignment

Dr. Refugio Gonzales

July 27, 2021

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 Equal Protection of the Laws

Brown vs Board of Education (1954)

Introduction

Because the facilities are fundamentally different, the separation of students from the

public school is a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, as stated

above. racism is used as a historical frame of reference in JUSTIA, vol. 347, when it comes to

historical reference. As a result of the ruling in Brown v. Board of Education, schools were no

longer divided based on race or geographic distribution. Schools in this area were segregated,

with children from both Black and White backgrounds, as well as those who need help from

school meals and other resources, unable to associate freely with one another. Black and white

students were assessed differently as a result of the prejudice, with black students getting less

than 75 percent of total points and the vast majority of white students receiving much more

points than black students. Despite the fact that they were educated on the same premises, white

parents insisted on separate schools for their children. There was a substantial difference in the

curriculums for the two groups, on the contrary. Race relations remained tense across the state,

with just a few people from various races, including black and white groups, communicating

with one another on a regular basis.

Factual Background

Beginning in 1951, when the Topeka Public School District refused to enroll the daughters of

Oliver Brown, a Black resident who resided in the area, in the closest elementary school, the case

was filed (2018). Brown was hauled before the Supreme Court for the first time in 1952, after

four more school-related lawsuits against him. Brown vs. Topeka's Education Board was the

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name given by the Supreme Court to the case that brought together the two cases against

History.com that had been filed against the business before (2009). In addition to Stanley F.

Reed and Felix Frankfurter, William O. Jackson and Harold Burton, Sherman Minton and

Stanley F. Reed, Hugo Black and Stanley F. Reed served on the Education Court board, which

was presided over by Chief Justice Earl Warren. The case Oliver Brown et al v. Topeka was

heard by the Education Court board, presided over by Chief Justice Earl Warren. Eventually, on

the 8th of December 1953, the matter was reargued, and the case was ultimately settled on the

9th of December 1952, which occurred on the 17th of May 1954.

Legal Issues in the Case

Race segregation controlled racial relations in the United States for the bulk of the 60 years

before Brown v. Board of Education. Racial segregation in education varied considerably

between the 17 nations that required it and the 16 countries that prohibited it in the United States,

with the 17 countries mandating it and the 16 countries banning it (Essed 1991; Feagin 1991).

The Browns, along with 12 other black families from the broader Topeka region, filed a

collective action lawsuit against the Topeka Education Board the next week, alleging that the

Board's separation practices were in violation of the United States Constitution. The case was

tried in Topeka, Kansas, before the United States District Court. Plessy v. Ferguson was decided

by the United States Supreme Court on May 9, 2013, and the United States District Court for the

District of Kansas responded with a doctrinal ruling in accordance with a previous Supreme

Court decision in 1896 that held that, in general, racial segregation did not violate the equality

clause of the Quenth Amendment. As suggested by the Browns, who were represented by

Thurgood Marshall, then the Chief Lawyer of the NAACP, the Supreme Court should consider

the case, which was also supported by the NAACP in its decision. All of this showed that, at its

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core (at least in certain circumstances), racial segregation was unfair, paving the way for Brown's

ascent to the presidency in 1964.

Decision of the Court

In that historic judgment, the Supreme Court ruled that segregating students from public schools

on the basis of race was unconstitutional under the United States Constitution. The judgment

effectively marked the end of legally permissible racial segregation in US schools, overturning

the concept of "single but equal" that had been established in the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson court

decision. Because race is a bond that binds individuals together, the Court thinks that it cannot be

disregarded in this instance. In order to provide all children with equitable educational

opportunities, it is critical to prevent and discourage racism in the classroom and beyond. While

acknowledging that white parents who refuse to allow their children to enroll in public schools

where black children are present to study and interact with all other children are in violation of

the law, the Court believes that such parents cannot be disregarded. Due to the fact that black

people are human beings, prejudices will be decreased as more black and white children freely

interact with one another. As they grow up and have their own children, they will not be

segregated from other black people. Youngsters of color and white children will easily associate

since black people are human beings (Ayed 2016). Efforts by local governments in both black

and white communities must be coordinated in order to strengthen their citizens' resistance to

dissociation, educate them about the limitations of education, and educate them about racist

events and the ramifications of racism in society without taking their perspectives into

consideration.

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Court’s Justification

Earl Warren was the author of the Court's decision in this case. It is not clear if the authors of the

14th Amendment intended to create a separate and comprehensive public education program,

similar to that of civil rights attorneys. The idea of separate but equal transit was originally

proposed in 1896, and it was intended to be used to travel rather than education in its application.

He primarily maintained that the present, rather than the past, was at issue. Following the 14th

Amendment's due process requirements and the Fifth Amendment's due process requirements,

education could be the primary goal of the state and local governments, as could the removal

from the federal constitution of any banned African-American racial segregation that did not

provide equal protection.

Warren, the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, stated: "In public schools, the

secrecy surrounding white and multicolored children is detrimental to colored children. Because

the politics of racial separation are widely believed to indicate the inferiority of the Negro group,

the penalty has a greater impact on the population... Any wording that is in opposition to this

conclusion will be deleted. When it comes to public education, we believe that the idea of

"separate but equal" does not belong in this context. Separate educational institutions are unequal

by their very nature."

Educational administrators should be aware of the implications.

Brown v. Board of Education did not immediately result in school integration; nevertheless, it

did serve to promote (along with the Southern states' strong resistance) the emergence of a civil

rights movement in the United States.

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Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat in Montgomery, Alabama, one year after the landmark

Brown v. Board of Education decision was handed down. Following the boycott of the

Montgomery bus, which was quickly followed by other boycotts, sit-in protests and

demonstrations (some led by Martin Luther King Jr.), which culminated in the repeal of Jim

Crow laws in the southern United States, she was imprisoned for six months.

The 1964 Civil Rights Act, with the assistance of the Department of Justice, marked the

beginning of the deregulation process in the United States. The 1965 Voting Rights Act and the

1968 Fair Housing Act were both enacted as a result of this groundbreaking effort.

In the case of Runyon v. McCrary, the Supreme Court decided in 1976 that private, non-sectarian

schools that refused to register students on the basis of race were in violation of federal civil

rights laws.

With its rejection of the "separate but equal" doctrine, Brown v. Education Board creates a legal

precedent that will be used to invalidate legislation that would maintain segregation in other

public institutions. However, despite the fact that its historical judgment was clearly significant,

it fell short of its primary objective of school integration in the United States.

Even after more than 60 years since Brown v. Board of Education, the debate over how to

address racial disparities in the country's education system continues. These disparities are

primarily due to differences in residential patterns and the allocation of resources between

schools in wealthy and economically disadvantaged areas across the country.

Conclusion

Finally, if everyone is to be treated in equal measure and the masses are to be

disregarded, society must be educated so that every human being on the planet may learn to

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respect each other and develop an equally good affection for all people. In order to achieve this,

everyone must work together, regardless of color or ethnicity, to eradicate prejudice against

others.

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 References

Daley, 2018 via Smart news, Linda Brown, at the center of brown v. board of education, has

died. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/linda-brown-center-brown-v-board-

education-has-died-180968608/

Essed Philomena. Understanding Everyday Racism: An Interdisciplinary Theory. Sage;

Newbury Park, CA: 1991 https://books.google.com.ph/books?

hl=en&lr=&id=1XA5DQAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&ots=afS_VbztHL&sig=9tHMUQK5LlW

eypN7-uLg7bm1ngs&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false

History.com, 2009 Brown Vs. Board of Education https://www.history.com/topics/black-

history/brown-v-board-of-education-of-topeka

History.com,2009 Plessy v. Ferguson https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/plessy-v-

ferguson

JUSTIA, US Supreme Court, Brown V. Board of Education of Topeka, Vol. 347

https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/347/483/

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