Brown vs Topeka Board of Education Flashcards
When did the US supreme court decide that it was legal to have segregated schools as long as they were ‘separate but equal’?
1896.
What was the daughter of Oliver Brown expected to do?
Walk 21 blocks to her nearest all black school when there was a better all white school only 7 blocks away.
What did the NAACP decide to do?
They asked a number of parents, including Oliver Brown, to try and register their children at the nearest school. All had been given places at all-black schools.
What did the NAACP then decide to do?
Using the Brown family as an example they decided to take matters to the District Court.
What did the District Court rule?
They agreed that the Black children might be better in a mixed school but rules in favour of the old law ‘separate but equal.’
However how did the Supreme Court rule?
That segregation in schools should end.
When did the Supreme Court make this decision?
17th May 1954.
However what was the problem with the new rule?
The judges of the court were not set a deadline.
What was President Eisenhower worried about?
He believed that desegregation, if forced on people, would not work.
What happened in 1955?
Membership of the KKK rose dramatically.
Who issued and when was the Southern Manifesto issued?
March 1956 by 22 southern senators.
What did the 22 senators promise?
They would do all they could to end segregation.
When were all elementary schools organised by area rather than colour of skin?
January 1956.
