Today, education is perhaps the most important function of state and local governments. Compulsory school attendance laws and the great expenditures for education demonstrate the importance of education to our democratic society. Education is required in the performance of our most basic public responsibilities and it is the very foundation of good citizenship. Today it is a principal instrument in awakening the child to cultural values, in preparing him for later professional training, and in helping him to adjust and be a worthy member of his community and on the larger scheme, of his country. Nevertheless, some problems may be hampering today’s education due to segregation in schools. To separate children in schools from others of similar …show more content…
Most of these legal steps were aimed at separating the races in public spaces such as schools, parks, accommodations, and transportation, and preventing adult black males from exercising the right to vote. In every state of the former Confederacy, the system of legalized segregation and disfranchisement was fully in place by 1910. This system of white supremacy cut across class boundaries and re-enforced a cult of …show more content…
One of the main arguments was that “separate school systems for blacks and whites were inherently unequal, and thus, violates the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.” Furthermore, relying on sociological tests, such as the one performed by social scientist Kenneth Clark, and other data, it was also argued that segregated school systems had a tendency to make black children feel inferior to white children, and thus, such a system should not be legally permissible. The court came to rule, "… in the field of public education the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal . . ." The Brown v Board of Education was one of the greatest efforts in attempting to abolish legal segregation. The arguments that led to the final decision were certainly persuasive and it got many citizens to question the actual effects of segregation. Because it is notable that education is an important vehicle for promoting civic engagement and democratic citizenship, it is very compelling to accept the notions that educators and political theorists have to offer in suggesting that segregation will harm more than it will benefit America’s democratic