Brown vs Topeka
Why were there no laws to advance civil rights before?
- Segregation laws ‘Jim Crow laws’ → segregated schools, public transport etc
- Congress & president needed the support of Southern politicians
→ Did not act to improve civil rights
- Legal precedent: Plessy v Ferguson: separate facilities were allowed if they were
equal
Why are Segregated schools a problem?
· Funding difference: gov. spending could be up to 4x more for white pupils
· Education leads to employment & voting (literacy test, poll tax etc)
Causes:
- Application for school rejected on the grounds of race - white pupils only
- Initial trial ruled against Linda because of Plessy versus Ferguson (precedence)
Event:
- Case taken to Supreme court, combined with 4 other cases
- Argued that school segregation was damaging African American children
psychologically even if the schools were equal in terms of funding and facilities: belief
that they're inferior and different
- 1954: Ruling reached that school segregation was unconstitutional
Why was this such an important decision?
● Breaks the legal precedent of Plessy Versus Ferguson, sets a new legal precedence
● Supreme Court ruling a year later decided that school desegregation should happen
‘with all deliberate speed’
● Publicity / increased awareness of African American civil rights
● Inspiration and hope to other civil rights campaigners for desegregation
Negative results of the decision
- Limited immediate impact
● Slow progress, did not always benefit African American children and teachers
● Many black schools that had provided a good education were closed
● African American teachers lost their jobs
● Black pupils faced anger and bad feelings
- Backlash by some white racists
● "White flight'' → segregation became more extreme
● Violence increasing towards African Americans (e.g. Klu Klux Klan) (Case of
Emmett Till)
8 marker: Explain two effects of Brown vs Board of Education on the USA (1 positive, 1
negative?)
[ @twilightxcafee notes – Reserved for customers only ]
, Positive effects:
● Publicity & awareness
● Precedent - inspire future action
● Lead to desegregation of schools
Negative effects:
● White supremacist backlash e.g. Case of Emmett Till (1955), Ku Klux Klan
● Lack of enforcement
Examples of violence towards African Americans
Ku Klux Klan
● Membership grew after Brown vs Topeka; targeted civil rights protestors
● Held meetings encouraging racial hatred, put burning crosses in front of houses
● Beating, lynching, shooting victims
● Use of bombs after Montgomery Bus Boycott
Case of Emmett Till
● Lynched and murdered after being accused of offending a white women
● Till’s mother left the coffin open to show Till’s body
● Bryant & Milam found not guilty by an all-white, all-male jury;
Later confessed to beating and killing Emmett Till
● Could not be tried again for the same crime under US law
Impacts:
● Case received widespread publicity
● Increased awareness of the extreme racism and problems that African Americans
faced
● Motivated African Americans to take a more active role to bring about change
● Catalyst for the civil rights movement
Montgomery bus boycott
Causes
- Rosa parks was arrested for not giving up her seat for a white man as mixed race
rows were not allowed
- Rosa's case was chosen as the one to start a boycott as she was already involved in
civil rights movements
Events
Short term factors
● Arrest of Rosa Parks --> triggered action
Long term factors
[ @twilightxcafee notes – Reserved for customers only ]
Why were there no laws to advance civil rights before?
- Segregation laws ‘Jim Crow laws’ → segregated schools, public transport etc
- Congress & president needed the support of Southern politicians
→ Did not act to improve civil rights
- Legal precedent: Plessy v Ferguson: separate facilities were allowed if they were
equal
Why are Segregated schools a problem?
· Funding difference: gov. spending could be up to 4x more for white pupils
· Education leads to employment & voting (literacy test, poll tax etc)
Causes:
- Application for school rejected on the grounds of race - white pupils only
- Initial trial ruled against Linda because of Plessy versus Ferguson (precedence)
Event:
- Case taken to Supreme court, combined with 4 other cases
- Argued that school segregation was damaging African American children
psychologically even if the schools were equal in terms of funding and facilities: belief
that they're inferior and different
- 1954: Ruling reached that school segregation was unconstitutional
Why was this such an important decision?
● Breaks the legal precedent of Plessy Versus Ferguson, sets a new legal precedence
● Supreme Court ruling a year later decided that school desegregation should happen
‘with all deliberate speed’
● Publicity / increased awareness of African American civil rights
● Inspiration and hope to other civil rights campaigners for desegregation
Negative results of the decision
- Limited immediate impact
● Slow progress, did not always benefit African American children and teachers
● Many black schools that had provided a good education were closed
● African American teachers lost their jobs
● Black pupils faced anger and bad feelings
- Backlash by some white racists
● "White flight'' → segregation became more extreme
● Violence increasing towards African Americans (e.g. Klu Klux Klan) (Case of
Emmett Till)
8 marker: Explain two effects of Brown vs Board of Education on the USA (1 positive, 1
negative?)
[ @twilightxcafee notes – Reserved for customers only ]
, Positive effects:
● Publicity & awareness
● Precedent - inspire future action
● Lead to desegregation of schools
Negative effects:
● White supremacist backlash e.g. Case of Emmett Till (1955), Ku Klux Klan
● Lack of enforcement
Examples of violence towards African Americans
Ku Klux Klan
● Membership grew after Brown vs Topeka; targeted civil rights protestors
● Held meetings encouraging racial hatred, put burning crosses in front of houses
● Beating, lynching, shooting victims
● Use of bombs after Montgomery Bus Boycott
Case of Emmett Till
● Lynched and murdered after being accused of offending a white women
● Till’s mother left the coffin open to show Till’s body
● Bryant & Milam found not guilty by an all-white, all-male jury;
Later confessed to beating and killing Emmett Till
● Could not be tried again for the same crime under US law
Impacts:
● Case received widespread publicity
● Increased awareness of the extreme racism and problems that African Americans
faced
● Motivated African Americans to take a more active role to bring about change
● Catalyst for the civil rights movement
Montgomery bus boycott
Causes
- Rosa parks was arrested for not giving up her seat for a white man as mixed race
rows were not allowed
- Rosa's case was chosen as the one to start a boycott as she was already involved in
civil rights movements
Events
Short term factors
● Arrest of Rosa Parks --> triggered action
Long term factors
[ @twilightxcafee notes – Reserved for customers only ]
