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These are the names of the 12 parents who thought they would change their
history forever:
 | Mrs. Darlene Brown for her daughter. |
| Mrs. Lena Carper for her daughter. |
| Mrs. Maryulrite Emmerson for her sons. |
| Mrs. Zelma Henderson for her son and
daughter. |
| Mrs. Maude Lawton for her daughters. |
| Mrs. Lucinda Todd for her daughter. |
| Mr. Oliver L. Brown for his daughter. |
| Sadie Emmanuel for her sons. |
| Mrs. Shirley Fleming for her sons. |
| Mrs. Shirley Hodison for her son. |
| Mrs. Alma Lewish for her children. |
| Mrs. Maude Lawton for her daughter. |
| Mrs. Vivian Scales for her
daughter. |
Mr. Oliver L.
Brown along with these 12 parents were becoming angry with the
Topeka School systems. Mr. Brown had to watch his daughter walk 6 blocks
then ride a bus 2 miles to her school. Many other parents had to go
clear across town to take their kids to school.
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|
These 12 parents decided to use help form the National Association of the
Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). The NAACP advised the parents to
take their children to an all white school and try to enroll them. After
all of the parents were denied they used that as a piece of evidence
against the Topeka School Systems. The NAACP argued that segregated
schools were sending out a message that black children are inferior to
white people. Therefore the schools were unequal. |
|
The Board of Education
defense was that, because segregation in Topeka pervaded many aspects of
life, segregated schools simply prepared black children for the
segregation they would face during adult hood. The board also argued
segregated schools weren't necessarily harmful to black children; great
African American such as Fredric Douglass, Booker T. Washington, and
George Washington Carver. |
|
They appealed to the Supreme court on October 1, 1951. The separate
but equal doctrine was appealed in the Plessy vs. Ferguson that stated
that segregation didn't conflict with the 14th amendment as long as
separate facilities for black people were equal to that of white people.
Febuary1951-- Topeka lawyers John Clarks and Elisha Scott filed suite on
behalf of Rev. Oliver Brown and 12 other black parents in a federal
court district in Topeka. Linda Brown who was selected to represent
the class action suite wanted to attend Sumner Elementary, which was only
five blocks away. Instead she was required to Monroe, an all black
school, which was twenty blocks from her home. The United States Court in
Topeka, following the Plessy vs. Ferguson ruled schools attended by
black children in Topeka were equal by all means of respect to those who
attend white children. The use was appealed to the United States
Supreme Court. |
One of the expert witnesses Dr. Hugh Speer, chairman of the department of
education at The University of Kansas, argued,
"If colored people were denied in
school of associating with white children who represent 90% of
our national society in which these colored children must live,
then the colored child's curriculum is being greatly curtailed. The
Topeka curriculum or any school curriculum can't be equal under
segregation."
|
| Some of
these such court cases have been held since the 1950's in the states of
Delaware, South Carolina, and the District of Colombia.
|
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Authors
Randal McCune
Christopher Seele
Zach Robb
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Bibliography
Brown v. Board of Education.<http://www.nationalcenter.org/brown.html>
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| CJ Online <http://cjonline.com/stories/101998/com_browntimeline.shtml>
|
| Brown v. Board of
Education.<http://www.watson.org/~lisa/blackhistory/early-civilrights/brown.html>
|
| Brown vs. Board of
Education. <http://usemdassy.state.gov/kingston/wwwhp207.html>
|
| Brown vs. Board of
Education of Topeka. <http://www.tourolaw.edu/patch/Brown>
|
| Brown v. Board of Education
of Topeka, Kansas. <http://coursesa.matrix.msu.edu/~hst306/documents/brown.html>
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| |
