Brown v. Board of Education Overview

Brown v. Board of Education Implementation

• Class Action Suit: Applies to all similarly situated African American children nationwide.
• "All Deliberate Speed": Court mandated immediate desegregation.
• Enforcement: National guard deployed.
• Rationale: Segregation harms African American students, creates a sense of inferiority. Court used social science to justify, as 14th Amendment wording was not explicitly against segregation.

De Jure vs. De Facto Segregation

• De Jure: Segregation mandated by law (primarily in the South).
• De Facto: Segregation that exists in practice, often due to housing patterns (primarily in the North).
• Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg (1971): A school system must have intended to discriminate to violate the constitution. Demographic factors in the North (neighborhoods/housing) did not indicate intent .

School Integration Remedies and Challenges

• Intent to discriminate: Crucial legal requirement for intervention.
• Remedies: Quotas, busing, redrawing district lines (primarily for instances of past discrimination).
• White Flight: Movement of white residents, changing demographics, contributing to single-race schools in de facto segregation cases.
• Supreme Court Restriction: Courts reluctant to constantly redraw district lines or mandate busing in the absence of intentional discrimination.
• 1992 Decision: Allowed busing to end in Georgia if segregation stemmed solely from housing patterns (de facto).

Civil Rights Campaign in Congress

• Mobilization: Public opinion was built through dramatic events like sit-ins, freedom rides to create political pressure.
• Setbacks: Violent demonstrations and riots hindered coalition-building. They were seen as law-breaking actions by some of the whites, resulting in difficulties in coalition building.
• Timeline: (1964-1968) A period with both non-violent protests as well as racially violent riots (negative turn).

Affirmative Action

• Arguments for: Race and gender should be considered in hiring/promotion and university admissions.
• Arguments against: Equality of opportunity is the only guiding principle. The law should be colorblind & gender neutral to remove barriers.
• Legal Battles: Courts highly divided, influenced by conservative judicial appointments. Affirmative Action laws complex and challenging to apply.
• Bakke Case (1978): Court ruling limited affirmative action approaches.

Explore the key concepts and implications of the Brown v. Board of Education case, including the class action suit and the court's mandate for desegregation. This quiz also delves into the distinctions between de jure and de facto segregation and the remedies and challenges faced in school integration. Test your knowledge on this landmark case and its ramifications.