Brown vs. Board of Education

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that "Brown vs. Board of Education (1954)" marked the transformation of the civil rights movement from a social and a historical force to one that created a real, measurable, political, and legal impact upon American society. The author points out that the passing of "Brown" confirmed that the education of children is one of the most important aspects of American racial improvement and dialogue. The paper relates that, today, some feel that black education should occur in community-directed organizations outside and after school, and integrated schools should attempt to create a multiracial society.

From the Paper:

"Perhaps an even more long-standing testimony to the continued relevance of the evidence presented in favor of "Brown" is the cases stress upon how mainstream American culture created low self-esteem in the minds of African American children, the idea that what was White was "better" than what was black. Even the attempts to erase such notions since "Brown" was decided does not detract from the continued importance of the project of building up young African American's self-esteem. "Segregation of white and colored children in public schools has a detrimental effect upon the colored children. The impact is greater when it has the sanction of the law; for the policy of separating the races is usually interpreted as denoting the inferiority of the Negro group", said the Court at the time. This legacy is still felt today, even in the absence of segregation, and can be said to account for the continuing battle to improve even talented young African Americans from falling prey to societal and cultural pressures that equate failure with blackness and success with whiteness. Even to succeed in some communities is to be an Oreo, black on the outside and white on the inside, reflecting self-hatred even when mocking others."

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