Civil Rights - FP4 - US Supreme Court

Question 1

NAACP Overview

Answer 1

Thurgood Marshall leading black civil rights lawyer and chief lawyer for NAACP
Focus on consitutional legality of segregated education
1944 Smith v allright - white only primaries illegal
1946 - Morgan v Virginia Transport - no segregation on interstate travel on buses
1948 Shelley v Braemer Housing - courts should not enforce restrictive housing - ie not selling houses to AA
1950 Sweatt v Painter AA must recieve same level of graduate education

Question 2

Brown v Board - What and Why?

Answer 2

May 1954 - Brown took state of Kansas to court for failing to provide for his duaghter
Kansas one of 17 states with legally segregated schools
Earl Warren appointed 1953 - pro civil rights
NAACP effective and persistent in its litigation
Support of Truman
SC reflecting majority opinions of national elites

Question 3

Brown v Board Impacts

Answer 3

‘Seperate but equal’ doctrine ended - precedent
Brown 2 1955 - timetable for desegregating schools - ‘all deliberate speed’
Introduced quickly in peripheral and urban North (70% of school districts in Washington and Delware, Kentucky Maryland etc desegregated schools within a year)
By 1956 not one public school in the south had been integrated
Massive white resistance - White Citizens’ Councils by 1956 250,000
Decleration of Constitutional Principles (Southern Manifesto) - Feb-Mar 1956 almost 1/5 of congressmen sign
Lack of federal support

Question 4

Little Rock - What?

Answer 4

NAACP launch campaign to speed up desegregation by enrolling 9 black students to all white Central high school
National Guard ordered by Governor Faubus to prevent students from entering - Einsenhower orders removal of guard but students still prevented by racist crowds
1000 members of 101st airborne division sent to protect students but Faubus passed law giving him power to close local schools and he did so to all schools in Little Rock
NAACP went to court and June 1959 schools reopened and integrated

Question 5

Little Rock Impacts

Answer 5

Grassroots resistance to Brown, state and federal unkeen to help, other schools in Little Rock not desegregated until 1972
Desegregation gained authority of president

Question 6

3 Important Cases

Answer 6

Browder v Gayle 1956 - Browder refused to give up her seat to a white person - court outlawed segregation of buses in Montgomery - played vital part in MBB whichy by Nov 1956 was under fire
Boynton v Virginia 1960 - established segregated bus depots/restrooms on interstate travel were illegal - produced limited de facto change - widespread opposition
Meredith and the University of Mississippi 1962 - SC ruled Meredith should be allowed to attend the Uni of Mississippi - Kennedy sent troops to defend Meredith who then enrolled - 2 killed in ensuing riots - v sig