The land mark ruling of Brown V. Board of education shook the landscape of the south and eventually, the United States. It cracked the foundations of a society based on racism and the systematic oppression of African Americans as blacks were politically and socially undermined by laws that stripped them of their voting rights and separated them from society just for the color of their skin. The supreme court decision to rule “separate, but equal” accommodations unconstitutional out raged southerners and inspired those advocating for civil rights. The impacts and reactions were resoundingly polarizing. The decision to disband segregated facilities was a call to arms for many southerners who were determined to preserve their “way of life” by any means possible. This included, state legislation that was openly defiant to the supreme court ruling to end segregation and many …show more content…
Despite the protests and violence. Many schools and communities were able to desegregate and integrate African American students without much incident. Miss Mary Brent, principal of previously all white school is pictured greeting both white and black students alike on the first day of school in Nashville, Tennessee. Missouri and Kentucky were able to peacefully integrate without much incident either in 1957. The Brown case marked the cusp of the civil rights movement. A paradigm shift was taking place across the nation, black activists groups and civil rights groups would start mobilizing as the sentiment was that the federal government was finally ready to approach racial discrimination. In Montgomery, Alabama, December 1, 1955, Mrs. Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man on a city bus. The mobilization and operation that took place after Parks’ protests gave way to the Montgomery bus boycott with Martin Luther King Jr at the