Desegregation Debacle: The Unintended Consequences of Brown v. Board of Education
In the aftermath of the civil war, reform and subsequent legislation were implemented in an attempt to improve equality for blacks. However, these actions failed to leave a lasting improvement in civil rights for African Americans. After the Plessy v. Fergusson decision in 1896, any previous gains were negated when the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of separating peoples by their races provided they were presented with equal facilities. This decision began a period of Jim Crow laws on the basis of separate but equal conditions for blacks and whites. However, in 1905 blacks began a quest for political and legal equality. Through this movement blacks …show more content…
Together these cases, representing school segregation as a national issue, were initially brought to the supreme court on December 9,1952. Reaching a decision in 1954, the Supreme Court ruled that “in the field of public education the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.”. Although this combination of court cases even reaching the Supreme Court seemed to be an advancement towards greater equality, the decision had little impact on the deeper issues at hand. The court focused on desegregation as the assignment of students without considering other factors including race, religion, or nationality. While this definition allowed the court to establish a verdict founded in a concrete definition of the issue under judgment, it fails to recognize the actual issue of a racial imbalance in American Society Although the Supreme Court’s decision to eliminate segregation in schools promised to improve racial and academic equality, in reality the decision had the opposite effect. Ultimately, because the court failed to address the racial imbalance in American Society, the outcome of Brown v. Board of Education was detrimental to society resulting in heightened …show more content…
The deeper issue of racism in the Brown decision is best illustrated through the scientific study conducted by Kenneth Clark. In this study he conducted a series of experiments to study children’s attitude towards race. In this study black children were given two dolls and asked to attribute one with certain characteristics. They were asked to choose which doll “looks like you”, and which doll “is a nice color” among other classifications. Overall there were eight classifications with four indicating preference and four revealing their knowledge of the races according to societal influences. Ultimately this study was productive because it demonstrates that black children were taught to “ascribe negative attributes with their own race.” Furthermore this study was a key argument for Thurgood Marshall and the NAACP lawyers in Brown v. Board of Education. Coming to conclusions including “separating [African-American children] from others of similar age and qualifications solely because of their race generates a feeling of inferiority as to their status in the community that may affect their hearts and minds in a way unlikely ever to be undone” and that school segregation hurt the development of white children as well, Clark’s research provided scientific evidence to support school desegregation. This racism which was so prevalent in
In the aftermath of the civil war, reform and subsequent legislation were implemented in an attempt to improve equality for blacks. However, these actions failed to leave a lasting improvement in civil rights for African Americans. After the Plessy v. Fergusson decision in 1896, any previous gains were negated when the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of separating peoples by their races provided they were presented with equal facilities. This decision began a period of Jim Crow laws on the basis of separate but equal conditions for blacks and whites. However, in 1905 blacks began a quest for political and legal equality. Through this movement blacks …show more content…
Together these cases, representing school segregation as a national issue, were initially brought to the supreme court on December 9,1952. Reaching a decision in 1954, the Supreme Court ruled that “in the field of public education the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.”. Although this combination of court cases even reaching the Supreme Court seemed to be an advancement towards greater equality, the decision had little impact on the deeper issues at hand. The court focused on desegregation as the assignment of students without considering other factors including race, religion, or nationality. While this definition allowed the court to establish a verdict founded in a concrete definition of the issue under judgment, it fails to recognize the actual issue of a racial imbalance in American Society Although the Supreme Court’s decision to eliminate segregation in schools promised to improve racial and academic equality, in reality the decision had the opposite effect. Ultimately, because the court failed to address the racial imbalance in American Society, the outcome of Brown v. Board of Education was detrimental to society resulting in heightened …show more content…
The deeper issue of racism in the Brown decision is best illustrated through the scientific study conducted by Kenneth Clark. In this study he conducted a series of experiments to study children’s attitude towards race. In this study black children were given two dolls and asked to attribute one with certain characteristics. They were asked to choose which doll “looks like you”, and which doll “is a nice color” among other classifications. Overall there were eight classifications with four indicating preference and four revealing their knowledge of the races according to societal influences. Ultimately this study was productive because it demonstrates that black children were taught to “ascribe negative attributes with their own race.” Furthermore this study was a key argument for Thurgood Marshall and the NAACP lawyers in Brown v. Board of Education. Coming to conclusions including “separating [African-American children] from others of similar age and qualifications solely because of their race generates a feeling of inferiority as to their status in the community that may affect their hearts and minds in a way unlikely ever to be undone” and that school segregation hurt the development of white children as well, Clark’s research provided scientific evidence to support school desegregation. This racism which was so prevalent in