Segregation not only separates one physically, but spiritually as well. In 1896, the Supreme Court held the case of Plessy v. Ferguson which came to a verdict that racial segregation on the grounds of facility use was legal if the facilities were equal for both black and white people. The principle of “separate but equal” was maintained over the course of several decades. Jim Crow laws, or regulations that endorsed segregation, flourished until the Supreme Court case of Brown v. Board of Education which challenged previous rulings. In the 1950s, a man by the name of Oliver Brown filed a class action lawsuit in opposition to the Board of Education of Topeka for their inequitable and prejudiced policies. Oliver Brown brought the claim that Topeka’s education board was incapable of providing schools for children of color equal to the ones attended by white children. He planned on sending his daughter to an all-white school considering the education offered by black schools did not match up to the education provided by white schools. Nonetheless, the all-white school denied Brown’s daughter access. The action committed by the school initiated an argument for sustaining and defending the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution which was supposed to grant neutrality and equal opportunity amongst the races. The lawsuit commenced the demolition of segregation. It led to liberation movements regarding transportation, egalitarianism protests, and reevaluated academic standards on the basis of color. The verdict of the Supreme Court case of Brown vs. Board of Education in 1954 came to the conclusion that racial discrimination in public schools violated the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. This verdict allowed for people of color to free themselves amongst the white world with the support of the law. It allowed African Americans to gain the courage to challenge the traditional minded.
First Lawsuits Against Segregation Testing the Supreme Court Verdict
After the verdict of Brown v. Board of Education, the nation did not transform overnight. Counties began to redefine their Jim Crow laws and other legislations promoting segregation. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) aided African American families to sue school districts for educational segregation. In 1955, a complaint against educational segregation was filed in Nashville to challenge the structure of the newly ruled Supreme Court case and bring equality in the county. This case became known as Kelly v. Board of Education of City of Nashville. The Nashville Board of Education acknowledged their consequent obligation; therefore, compliance was ruled, and the case closed shortly. However, the defendant (in this case, the Board of Education of Nashville) stated that they deserve to be given time to solve numerous organizational and administrative matters before transitioning to racially non-discriminatory school systems. They were therefore not capable of achieving the compliance agreed upon immediately. The court granted the motion set by the defendant, and the case was not considered again until 1957. The school board submitted plans of desegregation that were continuously challenged by the plaintiff (in this case Kelly) as unconstitutional according to the verdict of Brown v. Board of Education. The court accepted the objections and modifications were made. Nevertheless, this issue was prolonged, and the case was appealed to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals which eliminated jurisdiction of the precious court. The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the board stating that segregation was not unconstitutional. Due to further disagreements, the concern was presented to Federal Court which ruled out the defense supporting segregation on the grounds of the verdict of Brown v. Board of Education. The Federal Court definitively ruled in favor of the plaintiff which forced the Nashville Board of Education to submit an acceptable plan and made it legal for African Americans to attend all-white schools in the region by 1958.
Furthermore, in 1960, another lawsuit was filed against Davidson County. In the court case of Maxwell v. Board of Education of Davidson County, the board was accused of requiring racial segregation and refusing to admit students in certain schools due to their skin color. The “Plaintiffs […] prayed for an order requiring defendants to submit a plan for reorganization of the entire County School System into a unitary nonracial school system, including plans for elimination of racial segregation in teacher and other personnel assignments, school construction, and the elimination of any other discriminations in the operation of the school system or in the school curriculum which are based solely upon race or color.” The board submitted a plan revisiting the plaintiffs demands within a few months. A follow up case revisited the plan and allowed for objections from the plaintiff. After readjustment, the court verified and accepted the defendant’s plan. With respect towards concerns, the court approved the plaintiffs demands to certain extents, however excluded injunctive relief on the basis reserved judgement. Both cases, Kelly v. Board of Education of City of Nashville and Maxwell v. Board of Education of Davidson County, set forth examples of the new opportunities striving for equality in the African American community due to the ruling of Brown v. Board of Education. It tested the strength of the Equal Protection Clause and became a building block for, not only equality, but equity.
Little Rock Nine
After the ruling of Brown v. Board of Education, a group of nine colored students planned on attending an all-white high school at Little Rock, Arkansas in 1957. Before 1954, the state had mandatory segregation laws, and even after the verdict given by the Supreme Court, any districts refused to follow the ruling. Despite opposition to African Americans attending an all-white high school, the students applied to Central High School. The nine students, “Minnijean Brown, Elizabeth Eckford, Ernest Green, Thelma Mothershed, Melba Patillo, Gloria Ray, Terrence Roberts, Jefferson Thomas and Carlotta Walls had been recruited by Daisy Gaston Bates, president of the Arkansas NAACP and co-publisher of the Arkansas State Press, an influential African American newspaper.” Before school started, Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus announced that he would call in the national guard to prevent the nine students from attending that school. He stated that these actions were for the protection of the students and prevention against violence. A protest broke out and caught legal attention. Federal judge Ronald Davies ruled that desegregation will continue as planned and the students were allowed to attend.
On the first day of school, the Arkansas national guard prevented the students from entering the school on orders from Governor Faubus. Federal judge Davies did not appreciate the governor going against his ruling and began legal proceedings against Governor Faubus. President Dwight Eisenhower was noticed of these events and tried persuading the governor into removing the national guard. Civil discussions did not reach Governor Faubus, and federal judge Davies was able to complete the proceedings to legally take the national guard down a few weeks later. Nevertheless, Governor Faubus placed the Little Rock Police Department to maintain the restriction as the African American students were escorted into the school. A mob of 1,000 white protestors gathered and began rioting against the decision to allow the African American students to attend the all-white school. The following day, 1,200 members of the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division were sent by President Eisenhower to take over the 10,000 active National Guardsmen. They escorted the nine students to their first full day of classes. Governor Faubus continued to express his opinions and tried to legally challenge the attending students. The students faced many difficulties, “Melba Patillo, for instance, was kicked, beaten and had acid thrown in her face,” but the National Guard remained at the high school for the duration of the year and allowed the students to continue attending if they pleased.
Public Transportation and Civil Rights Movements
Public transportation had been an issue after the verdict of Brown v. Board of Education. The verdict expanded to segregation of public education, not necessarily segregation. “Rosa Parks (1913—2005) helped initiate the civil rights movement in the United States when she refused to give up her seat to a white man on a Montgomery, Alabama bus in 1955.” Public transportation was racially segregated at the time. The front of the bus was reserved for white citizens, while the back was for black citizens. Parks was sitting in the first row of the black people section with three other black people when the bus driver asked them to move. The white people section of the bus was full and more seats for white citizens were needed. The three other black people sitting with her obeyed, but Parks refused to move which led to her arrest. Typically, it was only customary for a bus driver to have the authority to ask a black person to give up their seat for a white person, but it was not necessarily law. The Montgomery law books contradicted themselves on the issue regarding public transportation. One law enforced segregation while the other ignored it by stating, “no person (white or Black) could be asked to give up a seat even if there were no other seat on the bus available.” Nevertheless, Parks was convicted of disorderly conduct four days later. Civil rights leader E.D. Nixon released Parks on bail later that day. This event led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott led by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. About 70 percent of public transportation users were black. The boycott greatly affected the public transportation economy and continued for the course of a year until the Supreme Court ruled bus segregation as unconstitutional.
Additionally, Martin Luther King Jr. continued the fight for equal rights past the public transportation boycott. Following the boycott’s success, King and other civil rights activists founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). This group organized nonviolent protests while aiming to achieve full equality for African Americans. King traveled throughout the nation to give lectures, promote nonviolent gatherings for civil rights promotions, and meet with other influential figures for a larger platform of impact. In 1960, King moved to Atlanta and continued with his philosophies and campaigns. He organized boycotts, sit-ins, and marches as protests against segregation. In 1963, he was arrested for his involvement and wrote the civil rights manifesto, “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” He explained his persuasive defenses of civil disobedience while addressing white clergymen who had previously criticized his tactics. He was released and worked with multiple followers to organize the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Around 200,000 to 300,000 people came to support his movement. King delivered his famous address, “I Have a Dream” and shared his vision for the future. The verdict of Brown v. Board of Education set a path of confidence and hope for people of color. King continued to travel down that path until his assassination in 1968.
Consequently, the effects of the verdict of Brown v. Board of Education allowed for African Americans to pursue their fight for equality. Although the ruling only affected educational segregation directly, people of color had the courage to strive for more and knew that their voices were being heard. Lawsuits followed the ruling for the districts unwilling to alter their Jim Crow laws, students of color were allowed to attend previously all-white schools, segregation in public transportation was eventually ruled as unconstitutional, and civil rights movements began affecting daily lives. Brown vs. Board of Education modernized the contemporary world and allowed for African Americans to seek equal opportunity.
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