Brown V. Board Of Education
In the early 1950’s, segregation of public schools was an issue. White students would go to one school, and colored students would go to another. At the time, white schools were far superior to colored schools because of things like indoor plumbing and heating. All students should be able to go to the same school and get equal education. Oliver Brown agreed, and along with the help of the NAACP, took the Board of Education to court. This case, known as “Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas”, is one of the most important civil rights decisions ever made.
Although the events of the case did not happen until 1951, there were issues going on with segregated schools. In 1949 and 1950, the average expenditure for white students was about $179. For blacks, it was only a mere $43. The country’s 6,531 black students attended schools in 61 buildings valued at $194,575 while the 2,375 white students attended 12 school buildings worth $673,850 with far superior facilities. White schools had indoor plumbing and heating while black schools did not. Also, teachers in black schools only received salaries that were one-third less than teachers in white schools (Salzman 187). This is how schools were segregated financially. However, the root of the problem would not have to deal with finances, but rather education and equality.
The separate-but-equal doctrine was first established in 1896. The U.S Supreme Court ruled in the case Plessy v. Ferguson that separation of races is constitutional as long as equal accommodations are made for each race. An example of this would be if a white person had a public water fountain, then there must be a water fountain for a black person as well. The separate-but-equal did not please Oliver Brown. Oliver and his daughter Linda lived in Topeka, Kansas. There, Linda, who was a black third grader, had to walk 1 mile through a railroad switchyard to get to her black elementary school. There was a white school that was...
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