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FINAL Document Analysis (#4)

The document discusses the landmark Supreme Court case Brown v Board of Education, which challenged the 'separate but equal' doctrine established by Plessy v Ferguson. It highlights the historical context of segregation in the U.S., the efforts of civil rights activists, and the impact of the Vietnam War on domestic issues. The ruling emphasized that racial segregation violated the Fourteenth Amendment's guarantee of equal protection under the law, exposing systemic flaws in the legal framework that perpetuated discrimination against African Americans.

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10 views2 pages

FINAL Document Analysis (#4)

The document discusses the landmark Supreme Court case Brown v Board of Education, which challenged the 'separate but equal' doctrine established by Plessy v Ferguson. It highlights the historical context of segregation in the U.S., the efforts of civil rights activists, and the impact of the Vietnam War on domestic issues. The ruling emphasized that racial segregation violated the Fourteenth Amendment's guarantee of equal protection under the law, exposing systemic flaws in the legal framework that perpetuated discrimination against African Americans.

Uploaded by

vanfamaj
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Alyssa VanPortfleet

Professor Bunin 4th CA/DC

United States History 1302

April 27, 2023

Brown v Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954)

Before the infamous court case Brown v Board of Education, a previous case, titled:

Plessy v Ferguson (1896), had established the ruling of the “separate but equal” doctrine. This

ruling allowed for the racist ideology of segregation to continue within the United States for the

next 72 years. But it raised the question to the American public; was the segregation within a

democratic nation truly “separate but equal”? Mirroring the segregation that had been established

by earlier Jim Crow Laws and Black Codes, which were used to belittle blacks and keep them

inferior to the whites, primarily within social structures and voting abilities, this supreme court

decision came nine years after the Second World War, during which the NAACP, or the National

Association for the Advancement of Colored People, petitioned the government to desegregate

the military. Once progressions within the militia had been established, activists then turned to

the desegregation of public schools and facilities, including the Greensboro Sit-ins, the

Montgomery Bus Boycotts, and the Freedom Rides later in the 1960s, all of which aimed to

integrate the public between races in public facilities and transportation. The sit-ins eventually

established integrated public spaces, such as restaurants, and the bus boycotts and freedom rides

established integrated buses and terminals. However, despite all these efforts during the Civil

Rights Era, the Vietnam War had also been shifting the focus of the Federal Government and

Public Eye to the war front, rather than the domestic issues festering inside of our borders. As

Vietnam had been a point where the country should not have involved itself with foreign affairs,
the increase of the anti-war movement combated with the pro-war movement to halt the spread

of communism around the world, and contain it to the Soviet Union and Chinese regions. This

enraged activists who were fighting for equality between races and genders in the U.S., and

dramatically increased the polarization of the people.

Brown v Board established a new doctrine within the United States, which was that if

facilities were truly “separate but equal”, why was it that they had to be separate in the first

place? Additionally, the separation based on racial discrimination caused black children to

develop a feeling of inferiority to the white american, which had been argued by Brown’s own

attorney. Chief Justice Warren even states explicitly in the document that “this segregation was

alleged to deprive the plaintiffs of the equal protection of the laws under the Fourteenth

Amendment,” (Warren 3), meaning that the Fourteenth Amendment, which states that “No State

shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the

United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due

process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws”

(The Constitution). This is an issue that is prevalent throughout the history of the United States,

as the idea of “equal protection under the law” was not enforced, nor was it being implemented

in any law-making or law-preventing. In this particular case, Brown v Board of Education

exposes the flaws that came with the Constitution, which had allowed for laws, instead of

protecting its citizens, to harm them and cause emotional inferiority within an entire minority, as

seen not only with the segregation in the 20th century, but additionally with the Jim Crow Laws

and Black Codes that were passed to discriminate against African Americans following the

American Civil War.

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