Lesson 8.02

Civil Rights Court Cases

 

  

OBJECTIVE – This lesson will examine the two crucial court cases that are pivotal in the discussion surrounding the segregation of public facilities in the United States . 

DISCUSSION – In 1892, Homer Plessey, a Louisiana man who was 1/8th black, and held a first class ticket to ride on a train, was arrested for not sitting in the designated seating for African American passengers.  The punishment for the crime was $25 or up to twenty days in jail.  Plessy appealed his case all the way the United States Supreme Court.  The outcome of the case established the doctrine of “separate but equal” which would be at the heart of civil rights violations in the United States for the next 60 years.  The courts ruling that public facilities could be segregated, so long as they were equal, let to numerous Jim Crow laws whose sole aim was to further limit African American participation in many everyday aspects of society.  Many of these limitations were environmental like restrictions on things a simple as white and colored drinking fountains.  Other restrictions aimed at the very heart of democracy, limiting participation in the fundamental practice of voting.

Text Box: Black School in the 1930’s Text Box: White school in the 1930’s
One area of segregation that stretched the practice of “separate but equal” was public education.  As a result of the Plessy case many states instituted segregated school systems that educated black and white students separately.  Unfortunately the only part of the doctrine that was followed was the separate part.  In most cases the black students were subjected to separate schools that were vastly UNEQUAL!  Challenges to this practice began to arise but it wasn’t until the case of an 8 year old Kansas student, Linda Brown, that the Civil Rights Movement had it first real shot at victory.  The NAACP encouraged Linda Brown’s parents to sue the school district.  The NAACP recognized that the key issue didn’t revolve around whether the schools were equal or not (actually the segregated school in Topeka were fairly equal in most ways).  The NAACP asserted that even if schools are equal segregation is a fundamental violation of an individuals 14th Amendment rights.

 

Assignment 8.02 - Civil Rights Court Cases
ASSIGNMENT – Download the two (2) .pdf files Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) and Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954).  Read each document and answer the following questions in a Word Document.  Go to the Assignment Area and click on “View/Complete Assignment 8.02 – Civil Rights Court Cases”.  Attach your completed Word document and click “Submit”.

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

Elements of the Case

  1. State the main issue before the Supreme Court in this case.
  2. What facts were presented to the Court?
  3. What was the decision of the Court?  What was the rationale behind this decision?
  4. What were the effects of the decision?

Evaluation of the Case

  1. Compare the statements of Justices Brown and Harlan.  With which do you agree?  Explain.
  2. What do you think Justice Harlan meant when he said that Americans would find it difficult to boast about being the freest people on earth?  Do you think this is still true today?
  3. Do you thin that the long acceptance of “separate but equal” promoted the development of a “class system” in this country?  Was “separate” ever really equal?  Explain.

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954)

Elements of the Case

  1. State the issue before the Supreme Court in this case.
  2. What facts were presented to the Court?
  3. What was the decision of the Court?  What was the rationale behind this decision?
  4. What were the effects of this decision?

Evaluation of the Case

  1. Do you agree with the opinion of the Court in this case?  Do you think that it is possible to have segregated schools that can actually offer equal educational chances?  Explain.
  2. What effect do you think the Brown decision had on related issues such as women’s rights, equal opportunities for other minorities (such as Hispanics or Native Americans), or opportunities and access for the handicapped?  Explain.
  3. Imagine that you were given the task of planning the desegregation of a city school system that had always had dual schools for blacks and whites.  How would you go about it?  Outline the plan you would follow.

  

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