Brown v. Board of Education and the Civil Rights Movement

Brownv. Board of Education and the Civil Rights Movement

InstitutionAffiliation

Thedecision of the Supreme Court, regarding the 1954 Brownv. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas case,has been associated with the progression of the Civil RightsMovement. The court ruled that racial segregation in publicinstitutions of learning was a contravention of the FourteenthAmendment, which restricts states from denying the individuals thatreside within their jurisdiction equal protection of the law(Dulgnan,2017).The ruling declared that instituting separate educational facilitiesfor the Black and the White students was unequal. Although thisdecision was only applicable to public schools, it indicated thatsegregation was not allowed in other public facilities. The followingdiscussion reveals why the Brown case was a significant milestone inthe development of American Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and1960s.

TheBrown decision was critical to the progression of the Civil RightsMovement because it overturned the legal guidelines that had beenimplemented by the Plessyv. Fergussonruling. In the Plessy court ruling, the Fourteenth Amendment wastaken to mean that segregated facilities provided an opportunity tomeet equality in the law (Dulgnan,2017).The rules of Jim Crow were implemented in the South, where thefacilities for the Whites and Blacks were established. During thefirst fifty years of the 20^thcentury, the Civil Rights Movement advocated for equal remunerationfor teachers and equal access to educational facilities likelibraries, health services, and recreational facilities. The Browndecision ascertained that separate institutions of education wereunequal (Dulgnan,2017).Consequently, the proponents of improved opportunities and fullequality for the Blacks got the chance to air their views. A yearafter 1960, the Civil Rights Movement was set up the lobby groupfought for the interests of the Black Community.

Ina recap of the above discussion, the Brown decision was instrumentalin the progression of the Civil Rights Movement because it offered aplatform that the advocates of equal rights could use. The casehighlighted the inequality that existed between the Black and Whitecommunities. As a result, the Civil Rights Movement, which fought forthe full rights of the Black community, was formed.

References

Dulgnan,B. (2017).&nbspBrownv. Board of Education of Topeka | Definition, Facts, &ampSignificance.&nbspEncyclopediaBritannica.Retrieved 5 April 2017, fromhttps://www.britannica.com/event/Brown-v-Board-of-Education-of-Topeka