Brown vs The Board of Education 1954 (Kansas)
Questions
When did it happen?
Argued December 9, 1952
Reargued December 8, 1953
Decided May 17, 1954
Where did it happen?
Kansas District Court (and possibly others – 200 people involved), reargued at the Supreme Court.
Why did it occur?
Because of segregation in schools. Some African Americans took cases to court, lost, and had to take it to the Supreme Court to have the ‘separate but equal’ principle, set up in Plessy v Ferguson overturned.
Who did it involve?
It involved the NAACP, Linda Brown (a little girl who had to walk a long way to school, and was denied entrance into a white school), her father Oliver Brown, and 200 other people who were also appealing the decision of their state’s District Court regarding educational segregation.
Why was it an important event in the history of Black Civil Rights?
This decision declared that the permissive or mandatory segregation on account of race was unconstitutional, or went against The American Constitution. It was important because black children had previously been educated in all black schools, and although the teachers had the same qualifications and the buildings were no different their education had still been inferior. Also, they often had to travel reasonably long distances to their schools, although a white school may have been closer. Desegregating schools would allow African Americans to raise their level of education.
On May 17, 1954, Chief Justice Earl Warren read the decision of the unanimous Court:
"We come then to the question 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. [12]
How does it relate to the poetry of Maya Angelou?
In 'Caged Bird' Maya Angelou uses metaphors to refer to the Blacks and Whites respectively. The free bird can be viewed as the white people, who have no restrictions in life and have complete freedom. The black African Americans, however, see a different view of life. They are caged birds, surrounded by restrictions and prejudice. They long for freedom, but they do not know it.
“ "The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird sings of freedom."
The quotation above is a significant stanza of the poem, CAGED BIRD.
The stanza explicitly displays the true meaning of the poem and defines
actions of a "caged bird." Blackness of skin acts as a barrier for the
black race; it prevents freedom for a person. The freedom, and feelings of a white person's existence are unknown to one who is black. Here, Maya's belief for freedom and equality is beginning to spread among the black race. She "sings" for freedom.
Throughout history, barriers have been put up between races.
Divisions and inequities between blacks and whites have existed since
ancient times. It's an enigma regarding how heritage has incurred blacks with slavery, and why discrimination and racism exist. Nevertheless, the Civil Rights Movement, actions of Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, and the trials of Brown vs. The Board of Education of Topeka, and Plessy vs. Ferguson (Separate but Equal, 1896) are examples of how blacks have slowly "sung" for equality. For more than three hundred years, a wrongful tradition of slavery and discrimination has existed. This ongoing black inferiority and white supremacy (ethnocentrism) is bound in tradition and hard to sever. Blacks are slowly overcoming the dominance of whites to blacks.
Through tradition and history, whites have been given hopes and
spirit; blacks are servile and bound by tradition. This controversy is
condoned and accepted. Tradition has caused the death of black dreams and hope. If a black person existed retaining the same amount of knowledge, skill, and talent of a white person, who would succeed more in life? The poem infers that the probable answer would be a white person, because blacks are "caged" by their colour. Opportunities infinitely exist for whites, whereas the same is false for blacks.
Websites
http://www.watson.org/~lisa/blackhistory/early-civilrights/brown.html
http://www.nationalcenter.org/brown.html
http://brownvboard.org/summary/
http://www.nps.gov/brvb/historyculture/mythtruth.htm
http://www.pbs.org/jefferson/enlight/brown.htm
http://www.lib.umich.edu/exhibits/brownarchive/
http://www.oyez.org/cases/1950-1959/1952/1952_1/
http://www.landmarkcases.org/brown/home.html
http://members.tripod.com/~Murphweb/interp.html