Brown V Board Of Education Essay

990 Words4 Pages

It is hard to believe that at some point in our country's history, education was limited to those not of African descent. Individuals in lower-income, African families struggled to gain access to education for their children, causing controversy to be created within school systems. The Chicago Board of Education in the 1960s and Brown v. The Board of Education were both vast examples of this as families finally brought to light this issue. These, along with several other disagreements within African American communities and schools, show how racist our country was, specifically in school systems, before the Civil Rights Movement. It is grossly apparent that during the Civil Rights Movement, segregation and racism within schools was a normal …show more content…

Brown v. Board of Education is a huge example of this as it stated “ if the colored children are denied the experience in school of associating with white children, who represent 90 percent of our national society in which these colored children must live, then the colored child's curriculum is being greatly curtailed” (Brown v Board). Not only did Brown V Board make a huge change but so did the help of many African American families. Many “black mothers such as Ruth Batson and Ellen Jackson led a decades-long campaign that culminated in a federal judge’s 1974 order to use busing to desegregate the city’s public schools” (Theoharis). Brown v Board was able to demolish the idea of “separate but equal” and bring the idea of being simply just “equal” (Levy). Attempted change was not only being made by individuals of color but also by white allies who made it their goal to aid in the ending racially motivated social order within school systems during the Civil Rights Movement (Strickland). With the help of many and with much time, eventually a change was made and an end was brought to …show more content…

The school systems went from a place of pure segregation and racism to having “about half of the states with segregated schools voluntarily changed their systems” (Black Students). The numerous efforts of the families allowed for these changes to not only be addressed but for there to actually be a noticeable result in the way African Americans were treated in schools. A prime example of this is how “Brown v. Board of Education not only made it possible to demolish segregated public school systems, but it was the landmark that served as a catalyst for further antidiscrimination decisions by the Supreme Court” (Brown v Board). This case allowed for many more subtle but influential changes to be made and further helped the advancement of the Civil Rights Movement. Today in schools, segregation is entirely a thought in the past and America as a society does not have a plan of changing things back to the way they once were (Shah). Since the abolition of segregation in schools, African Americans have been granted the opportunity to attend college, get degrees, and ultimately get the education that their past relatives might not have had the chance to receive. (Black Colleges). In the end, there is only hope to only continue for a fight for change within schools systems, and without individuals using their voices, there is a high likelihood that school systems today would