Declaration Of Constitutional Principles: Brown Vs. Board Of Education

Previous to the lunch counter sit-in in Jackson Mississippi racial tensions were already rising in the United States, particularly in the south. The post war economic boom and the Brown vs. Board of Education case in 1954 made the times ripe for dramatic shifts in the American culture. Prior to the sit in African Americans had already begun organizing events with huge turnouts, and shortly after the sit in we witnessed the rise of Martin Luther King Jr. with his I have a dream speech. His voice gave leadership and credibility to the movement. While all this was going on in the African American community many white Americans were working to counteract with opposition. Even getting 101 members of the United States Congress to sign a the Declaration of Constitutional Principles: The Southern Manifesto trying to refute the claims of their black counter parts. In the introduction Chafe suggests that it came down to the leaders of both the black and white communities to lead the way out of segregation, and also purposes that President Eisenhower is ineffective in completing the task from a federal level. The signers of the Manifesto believe that the Supreme Court was unwarranted and claimed that the court motioned in abuse of power from the judicial branch. Stating that Plessy versus Ferguson was a just decision creating the precedent needed to justify racial …show more content…
One thing that should be noted is, that although there were great leaders from both sides, and of both races it took a lot of effort and teamwork to do what was right for our country. Many of the great names will not be forgotten, but it should also be important to take time to show gratitude for all the unknown heroes of the civil rights era. Hopefully in todays similar situation people will begin to drawback on what worked move things along in the