The Critical Turning Point Of Brown V. Board Of Education

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” This quote by Nelson Mandela related to the Brown v. Board of Education because people all across America were not able to obtain an equal education even though it is one of the most powerful thing to get. Many whites were scared that if blacks were able to get the same education as them, they would be more powerful. This was against their rights according to the constitution and that why people protested the law and went to court. The Brown v. Board of Education case was a critical turning point for the rights of blacks in America.

After slaves were freed in 1865, according to the thirteenth amendment, segregated schools were very normal for children. At first,

The case was during the period of time of the Supreme Court called the Warren court and Chief Justice Warren wrote the opinion on the case (Rice 55). Thurgood Marshall was one of the many lawyers who was representing the complainants, the group that wanted the change. He was an African-American who was part of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People or NAACP, which was created in 1909 to fight for civil rights (David 44). The argument of the complainant was that segregated public facilities were unequal and to refuse a person is discrimination. They also said that refusing someone from school is unconstitutional under the fourteenth amendment of the constitution. “This amendment state that no state shall deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the law” (qtd. in David 45). The defendants, the ones that wanted everything to stay the same, said that the case of Plessy v. Ferguson already rules that separate but equal facilities were constitutionally legal (David 45). They also stated that forcing a state to desegregate was taking away states’ rights and education is a state issue, therefore, states have the right to set segregation rules (“Brown v. Board of

For many years, states did not listen to the Brown v. Board of Education. They denied entry of black student into their schools. For example, in Mississippi, the University of Mississippi denied admission to James Meredith. He took his case to court and they ruled that the university had to accept his admission, but Mississippi Governor Ross Barnett ignored the court’s ruling (“Brown v. Board of Education”). Another example is in Alabama was the Governor of Alabama, George Wallace, followed what Barnett’s lead and kept the University of Alabama segregated. President John F. Kennedy had to employ the United States Army to come to the South. Many of the black students had to be brought to their schools with the protection of federal marshals that were employed by President Kennedy (“Brown v. Board of Education”). Many white families took their children out of public schools and enrolled them into all-white private schools (“Brown v. Board of