civil rights in education, 1950s

• brown vs the board of education of topeka was a legal case taken with 4 others to the supreme court by the NAACP to end segregation on the basis it was unconstitutional
• the supreme court gave its verdict on the brown vs topeka case on 17th may, 1954
• one of the main reasons the brown vs topeka happened was because in 1951, linda brown was not allowed to go to the local all-white summer school because she was black
• one of the main reasons the brown vs topeka happened was because linda's father, oliver brown, with the support of the NAACP, brought a case called brown vs topeka to the local courts in june 1951
• one of the main reasons the brown vs topeka happened was because the court case failed, but the NAACP and oliver brown tried again with 4 other cases
• one of the main events during brown vs topeka was that thurgood marshall, the key NAACP lawyer, argud that 'separate but equal' was damaging to black american students
• one of the main events during brown vs topeka was that the judges, led by chief justice warren, were convinced by his arguments and ruled unanimously that segregation was unconstitutional in education
• in the brown vs topeka case, the NAACP's arguement was that even if equal education provision and facilities were made available, the plessy vs ferguson decision from 1896 of 'separate but equal' made black children feel inferior and this therefore broke the 14th amendment
• the 14th amendment to the US constitution gave citizenship to african americans, which meant they had equal rights and protection under the law
• one of the main details from the supreme court's verdict of brown vs topeka was that they ruled that plessy was unconstitutional and schools should desegregate
• one of the main details from the supreme court's verdict of brown vs topeka was the ending of racial segregation
• although the supreme court ruled desegregation should happen, it didn't say when, meaning schools could avoid complying with the court's decision
• the following year, in may 1955, the court further ruled all states must make a 'prompt and reasonable start' on desegregation, however it still failed to give a deadline for when this should happen
• one of the main positive effect of the brown vs topeka case was that it raised awareness of the racial inequalities that existed and kick-started the legal battle for civil rights for all
• one of the main positive effect of the brown vs topeka case was that it was a massive leap forwards in civil rights as the plessy vs ferguson ruling had been successfully challenged, which paved the way for future challenges in other areas
• one of the main positive effect of the brown vs topeka case was that the supreme court had finally supported the civil rights movement by ruling in its favour
• one of the main positive effect of the brown vs topeka case was that schools did integrate, but very slowly
• one of the main negative effects of the brown vs topeka case was that some people wanted to preserve segregation and an organisation called the White Citizens' Council was set up in mississippi, which grew into a network
• one of the main negative effects of the brown vs topeka case was that african american students regularly experienced threats and bullying after the case
• one of the main negative effects of the brown vs topeka case was that many african american teachers either lost their jobs or experienced harassment from white students
• one of the main negative effects of the brown vs topeka case was that as a result of the backlash, black schools with good teachers and high levels of achievement closed
• one of the main negative effects of the brown vs topeka case was that race relations in the south became incredibly tense, with increased violence by the KKK, which is in the context that the murder of emmett till occurred
• little rock was a high school in arkansas that desegregated
• although 25 african american students were accepted at little rock, the threats and violence levelled at them meant only 9 attended
• the incident at little rock high school happened in september 1957
• one of the main reasons for the incident at little rock high school was that in the brown vs topeka case of 1954, the supreme court had ruled 'separate but equal' in education was unconstitutional and therefore all schools had to intergrate
• one of the main reasons for the incident at little rock high school was that in 1957, little rock high school was instructed to desegregate by the federal court
• one of the main reasons for the incident at little rock high school was that 25 students were chosen out of those that applied to the school, but due to threats from the white community only 9 students tried to attend in september 1957
• one of the main reasons for the incident at little rock high school was that the governer of arkansas, orval faubus, deliberately tried to stop the 9 black american students from going to little rock and there were massive protests by the white community
• one of the main events during the little rock high school incident was that the arkansas state troops were ordered by governer faubus to stop the 9 african american students from entering the school 'to protect them'
• one of the main events during the little rock high school incident was that a massive group of white protesters had gathered, shouting abuse and threats
• one of the main events during the little rock high school incident was that the NAACP wanted the 9 african american students to travel together for protection, but elizabeth eckford did not get the message and arrived alone
• one of the main events during the little rock high school incident was that elizabeth eckford faced the angry mob and was prevented from entering the school by state troops, the media then covered the incident and there was an outcry
• one of the main events during the little rock high school incident was that president eisenhower now intervened by issuing a presidential order that removed state troops and sent in federal troops to escort the 9 students to school
• one of the main events during the little rock high school incident was that federal troops protected the 9 students for a whole year
• pictures and reports of the little rock incident were shared across the USA and in other countries, with some 250 reporters relating events, the news caused outrage in america and beyond
• the group of african american students at little rock were advised by the NAACP to meet and walk to school together supervised by ministers
• one of the main actions that governor orval faubus of arkansas took to stop intergration was that he arranged huge protests against desegregation outside the school gates
• one of the main actions that governor orval faubus of arkansas took to stop intergration was that he ordered 250 state troops to stop the african american students from entering
• one of the main actions that governor orval faubus of arkansas took to stop intergration was that he ignored president eisenhower's request to desegregate the school when they met on 12th september, 1957