Brown vs. Board of Education Research
BROWN V. BOARD OF EDUCATION: IS SEGREGATION BETWEEN COLORED AND WHITE CHILDREN IN SCHOOLS CONSTITUTIONAL?
Introduction The Enlightenment served as the foundation of “every aspect in colonial America, most notably in terms of politics, government, religion, [and education].”1 All aspects of life stem from the “concepts of freedom of oppression, natural rights, and new ways of thinking.”2 The central ideas of the Enlightenment, including John Locke’s Natural Rights theory, served as the basis of the monolithic documents that shaped this country: The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.3 Both The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution “sought to promise personal freedom to all citizens” despite any racial or social differences.4 John Locke was known as “the wise philosopher” and was an advocate for equal rights, leading to some of the greatest publications of written work known to man, such as the Two Treatises of Government.5 During the 1950s, African-Americans were denied these rights because of skin color. It was a known fact that “colored people” did not have the same equal rights as white people did, no matter what age or gender you were. Unfortunately, in 1951, an eight-year old African-American girl became a victim to this way of society when she was denied access to attend a local elementary school in Topeka, Kansas because of her race. Instead of accepting this pronouncement, Linda Brown’s father decided to fight for her natural rights by involving the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and creating a court case against the Board of Education in Topeka. Ultimately, the case was seen by the Supreme Court, and although originally neglected by the school’s decision to not allow young Brown to attend their segregated school, John Locke’s Natural Rights theory ended up playing a crucial role in the monumental verdict of the infamous case that changed the education system and America forever: Brown v. Board of
Introduction The Enlightenment served as the foundation of “every aspect in colonial America, most notably in terms of politics, government, religion, [and education].”1 All aspects of life stem from the “concepts of freedom of oppression, natural rights, and new ways of thinking.”2 The central ideas of the Enlightenment, including John Locke’s Natural Rights theory, served as the basis of the monolithic documents that shaped this country: The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.3 Both The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution “sought to promise personal freedom to all citizens” despite any racial or social differences.4 John Locke was known as “the wise philosopher” and was an advocate for equal rights, leading to some of the greatest publications of written work known to man, such as the Two Treatises of Government.5 During the 1950s, African-Americans were denied these rights because of skin color. It was a known fact that “colored people” did not have the same equal rights as white people did, no matter what age or gender you were. Unfortunately, in 1951, an eight-year old African-American girl became a victim to this way of society when she was denied access to attend a local elementary school in Topeka, Kansas because of her race. Instead of accepting this pronouncement, Linda Brown’s father decided to fight for her natural rights by involving the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and creating a court case against the Board of Education in Topeka. Ultimately, the case was seen by the Supreme Court, and although originally neglected by the school’s decision to not allow young Brown to attend their segregated school, John Locke’s Natural Rights theory ended up playing a crucial role in the monumental verdict of the infamous case that changed the education system and America forever: Brown v. Board of
Bibliography: "Board of Education, 95 N. E. 251 (Ill.)." The Yale Law Journal. 20. no. 1 (1910): 74-75. http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/785047.pdf?acceptTC=true (accessed March 21, 2013). (Journal) Locke, John Klarman, Michael J. Brown v. Board of Education and the Civil Rights Movement. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, Inc., 2007. http://books.google.com/books?id=LEEMAWCU45oC&printsec=frontcover (accessed March 21, 2013) (eBook) Pierce, Alan Oyez, "BROWN v. BOARD OF EDUCATION (I)." Last modified 2011. Accessed February 26, 2013. http://www.oyez.org/cases/1950-1959/1952/1952_1 (Web Source) The Leadership Conference, "Brown v. Board of Education (Kansas)." Last modified 2013. Accessed March 21, 2013. http://www.civilrights.org/education/brown/brown.html. Bloomberg Law, "Brown v Cozzens, Lisa. African American History, "Brown v. Board of Education." Last modified 1998. Accessed March 21, 2013. http://www.watson.org/~lisa/blackhistory/citing.html. (Web Source) Locke: Two Treatises of Government Student Edition U.S. Constitution - Amendment 14. n.d. http://www.usconstitution.net/xconst_Am14.html (accessed April 17, 2013). (Web Source) Linda Brown biography