Tag Archives: End of Segregation

1954 Legal Ruling a Major Victory in U.S. Civil Rights Movement

 In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court declared that establishment of separate public schools for black and white students is inherently unequal and therefore unconstitutional. 

Mrs. Pinkston enrolls 2nd and 3rd graders in the newly integrated classes at a school in Springer, Oklahoma, August 29, 1958. (© AP Images)

Brown v. Board of Education extended federal power to education, an area traditionally controlled by states and localities. The decision also signaled a new determination to interpret more broadly the U.S. Constitution’s promise of equality before the law and began an era of federal intervention to defend and guarantee the civil rights of all Americans. 

The Supreme Court on May 17, 1954, issued a unanimous opinion written by Chief Justice Earl Warren. Where previous decisions narrowly interpreted the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which forbade states from denying equal protection under law due to race, the Brown court looked instead to the impact of segregation. As Warren wrote: 

“[T]o separate them [black schoolchildren] 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. … Segregation with the sanction of law, therefore, has a tendency to retard the educational and mental development of Negro children and to deprive them of some of the benefits which they would receive in a racially integrated school system.” 

The court concluded “that in the field of public education the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal. Therefore we hold that the plaintiffs … [have been] deprived of the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the 14th Amendment.” 

 Source: America.gov

Posted in 1953-1960, June 15 assignment, Political history, Social History | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

The Civil Rights Act of 1964

    In this photograph, President Johnson is signing the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with Dr. King one of its biggest supporters behind him. This act is one of the most important legislations during this time because it outlawed any unlawful treatment of minorities through voter registration and segregation in the workplace, school or in public.

    It later became stronger in its enforcement which led to the election of  minority officials in the Judiciary systems and in the US Government as a whole.

Posted in 1960-1968, June 14 assignment, June 16 assignment, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 1 Comment