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Brown vs Board of Education Facts: Fast Fact Sheet
Fast, fun facts and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's)
about the Brown vs Board of Education.
What was the Brown vs Board of Education of
Topeka? The Brown vs Board of Education
of Topeka was a 1954 Supreme Court case
regarding school desegregation in which the
Supreme Court dismissed the "separate but
equal" arguments and ruled that segregation
in public schools was prohibited by the
Constitution.
What did the Brown vs Board of Education do? The
legal case of Brown vs Board of Education
overturned provisions of the
1896
Plessy vs.
Ferguson Case
that had declared segregation to be
constitutional
and the Supreme Court banned the
practice of school segregation.
Who were the plaintiffs in the Brown vs Board of Education? There
were thirteen plaintiffs in the legal case
but as the name Brown was top of the list
alphabetically it became known as Brown vs
Board of Education
Brown vs Board of Education Facts
for kids
The following fact
sheet contains interesting information, history and
facts on Brown vs Board of Education for kids.
Brown vs Board of Education
Facts for kids
Brown vs Board of Education
Facts - 1: History: During
the Reconstruction era the
Civil Rights
Act of 1866 was passed by Congress and
detailed the
rights of all U.S. citizens
as a response to the infamous
Black
Codes enacted by many of
the Southern states.
Brown vs Board of Education
Facts -
2: History:
The
1896
Plessy vs.
Ferguson Case
declared segregation to be constitutional which led to the
segregation of the
Jim
Crow Laws and the "separate but equal" public
facilities, including public schools
Brown vs Board of Education
Facts - 3: Definition: The “separate but
equal” doctrine, first enunciated in Plessy v. Ferguson, ruled that
racial segregation was constitutional and valid under the equal
protection clause of the 14th Amendment as long as the facilities
provided for blacks and whites are roughly equal.
Brown vs Board of Education
Facts - 4: Racially segregated facilities
became prevalent across the Southern states, separating public
facilities for blacks and whites in parks, restaurants, rest rooms,
drinking fountains, swimming pools, waiting rooms, trains, buses,
housing and schools. Racially segregated facilities were also found
in Northern states.
Brown vs Board of Education
Facts - 5: Under the “separate but equal”
doctrine African Americans were legally entitled to the same social
services, housing and education as whites but in practice only a
small percentage of public funds were allocated to black
neighborhoods.
Brown vs Board of Education
Facts - 6: African Americans
began to protest against the injustices and
organizations such as the
NAACP
(National Association for the Advancement of Colored
People) and
the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)
were established..
Brown vs Board of Education
Facts - 7: The NAACP began to
challenge segregation and the “separate but equal”
doctrine in the courts. African American attorney Thurgood Marshall was the Chief Counsel for the NAACP
Legal Defense and Educational Fund
Brown vs Board of Education
Facts - 8: After WW2 was over Thurgood Marshall
focused his efforts on ending segregation in public
schools. In 1950, the NAACP asked a group of
African-American parents to attempt to enroll their
children in all-white schools, knowing that they would
be turned away. At this time in history, twenty-one
states had segregated school systems and 99% of black
students in the South attended all-black schools.
Brown vs Board of Education
Facts - 9: Thirteen
African-American families agreed to participate and the
strategy of the NAACP was for the NAACP to file a
lawsuit on behalf of the 13 families, who represented
the states Delaware, Kansas, South Carolina, Virginia,
and Washington, D.C.
Brown vs Board of Education
Facts -
10: In 1950, a
railroad worker called Oliver Brown filed suit against
the Board of Education in Topeka, Kansas and Thurgood
Marshall took the case.
Brown vs Board of Education
Facts for kids
Facts
about the Brown vs Board of Education for kids
The following fact
sheet continues with facts about Brown vs Board of Education.
Brown vs Board of Education
Facts for kids
Brown vs Board of Education
Facts - 11: The name of Brown
appeared alphabetically at the top of the list of
plaintiffs. The legal case therefore became known as
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, and was taken by
Thurgood Marshall to the Supreme Court
Brown vs Board of Education
Facts - 12: Oliver Brown's
daughter, eight-year-old Linda Brown, was a third grader
at the all-black Monroe Elementary School in Topeka.
Linda was forced to travel a significant distance to
elementary school due to racial segregation.
Brown vs Board of Education
Facts -
13: To reach her
school the eight-year-old Linda Brown had to walk half a
mile across railroad tracks to catch a bus to Monroe
Elementary School. An all-white elementary school was
just four blocks away from her home.
Brown vs Board of Education
Facts - 14: When the case went to the
Supreme Court, the lawyers for Topeka Board of Education argued that
Monroe Elementary School was architecturally identical to the white
schools in Topeka. The lawyers also pointed out that there were more
African American teachers than white teachers with a Masters degree.
The lawyers insisted that the Topeka schools were "separate but
equal".
Brown vs Board of Education
Facts - 15: Thurgood Marshall
argued that school segregation was a violation of
individual rights under the 14th Amendment and that the
only justification for continuing to have separate
schools was to keep people who were slaves "as near that
stage as possible."
Brown vs Board of Education
Facts - 16: On May 17, 1954,
Chief Justice Earl Warren of the Supreme Court,
delivered the unanimous ruling: "We conclude that, in
the field of public education, the doctrine of 'separate
but equal' has no place. Separate educational facilities
are inherently unequal."
Brown vs Board of Education
Facts - 17: Chief Justice Earl
Warren agreed that schools be desegregated with "all
deliberate speed" that enabled gradual rather than
immediate desegregation of schools. It did not require
desegregation of public schools by a specific time.
Brown vs Board of Education
Facts - 18: The Supreme
Court's Brown v. Board of Education decision did not
abolish segregation in other public areas, such as
transport, restaurants and restrooms but it did declare
the mandatory segregation that existed in 21 states as
unconstitutional.
Brown vs Board of Education
Facts - 19: The decision
reached in the Brown vs Board of Education was the
catalyst that began the modern Civil Rights Movement.
Brown vs Board of Education
Facts - 20:
The desegregation of schools was a slow process and the
Little Rock Nine crisis
erupted in 1957 regarding the refusal for
the admission of 9
African American students to the racially segregated
Little Rock Central High.
Brown vs Board of Education
Facts for kids
Brown vs Board of Education - President Dwight Eisenhower Video
The article on the Brown vs Board of Education provides detailed facts and a summary of one of the important events during his presidential term in office. The following
Dwight Eisenhower video will
give you additional important facts and dates about his presidency.
Brown vs Board of Education
●
Facts about the Brown vs Board of Education for kids and schools
●
Summary of the Brown vs Board of Education in US history
●
The Brown vs Board of Education, a major
event in US history
●
Dwight Eisenhower from January 20, 1953 to January 20, 1961
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Fast, fun facts about the Brown vs Board of Education
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Foreign & Domestic
policies of President Dwight Eisenhower
● Dwight Eisenhower Presidency and
Brown vs Board of Education for schools,
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