Brown vs Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education Back in the 1950’s , the saying for schools was “separate but equal”. All over the south most of the public schools did not allow colored students to attend their white schools. Alot of the colored students felt as if they were getting a more poor education compared to all the other white students. This law was challenged by thirteen parents who all attempted to enroll their kids into white public schools. Down the road a lawsuit came about that was filed against the board of education. They were being sued by the (NAACP) or the National Association for Advancement of Colored People. This case became known as the Brown v. Board of Education. By the late 1800’s, segregation laws became almost universal in the south where previous legislation and amendments were ignored. The races were separated in schools, in restaurants, in restrooms, on public transportation, and even in voting and holding office. In 1896 the supreme court upheld the lower courts decision in the case of Plessy vs Ferguson. Homer Plessy, a black man from Louisiana, challenged the constitutionality of segregated railroad coaches, first in the state courts and then in the U.S. Supreme Court. The high court upheld the lower courts noting that since the separate cars provided equal service, the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment was not violated. The “separate but equal” doctrine became the constitutional basis for segregation. Justice Marshall Harlan, declared the Constitution “color blind” and accurately predicted that this decision would become as painful as the infamous Dred Scott decision of 1957. For example if one hundred dollars was spent on white students, only half so fifty dollars would be spent on colored students. All of the items they used for education were outdated or worn. It made it difficult for them to learn and understand fully, and on top of that most classrooms were overcrowded. In 1909 the NAACP was officially formed to champion