Learning Target 2/10
I can analyze how Plessy v
Ferguson and Brown v Board of
Education represented a
change in interpretation of
basic civil rights based on
landmark Supreme Court cases.
Warm up
1. Why is the struggle for
equality ongoing?
2. What are some examples of
progress toward equal rights
experienced in the United States
in the last 100 years?
Imagine that there is a
new law that would
only allow people with
brown eyes to vote
Share with a partner
how you would feel
about this law.
th
14
Amendment
• 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.
• Congress cannot make laws
that violate the Constitution
and the Amendments and if
Congress did, the Supreme
Court has the right of Judicial
Review to decide if a law that
violates the Constitution.
Plessy v Fergusson 1896
• The issue in Plessy v
Fergusson was whether
segregation of public
facilities (transportation)
based on race violated the
th
14 Amendment
What was the ruling in Plessy v
Fergusson?
• The High Court ruled that a
Louisiana law requiring
whites and blacks to ride in
separate railroad cars did not
violate the Equal Protection
th
Clause of the 14
Amendment.
What was the impact of the ruling in
Plessy v Fergusson?
• The Supreme Court
decision to make separate
but equal facilities the law
of the land was the start of
segregation.
Separate but Equal
clause became
synonymous with
segregation
Individual Work
Read Majority Ruling in
Plessy v Fergusson and
answer the questions ( 10
minutes )
Legislation is powerless to eradicate racial instincts or
to abolish distinctions based upon physical
differences.... If the civil and political right of both
races be equal, one cannot be inferior to the other
civilly or politically. If one race be inferior to the other
socially, the Constitution of the United States cannot
put them upon the same plane.
Do you believe there can be a
difference between political and
social rights?
Very little progress had been made
toward racial equality from the abolition
of slavery by the 13th amendment [in the
1860s] until the 1950’s. [Almost 100
years!].
With a partner brainstorm ways of
bringing about economic, social or
political change.
Brown v Board of Education video clip
1. Were the actions of Linda Brown’s family
and Thurgood Marshall a form of protest?
Why/Why not?
2. What was the issue in Brown v Board?
3. What did the ruling in Brown v Board say
about “ separate but equal? “
4. What was the impact of Brown v Board
ruling?
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Plessy of Brown?
1. The ruling in this case enforced segregation
2. Led to desegregation of public schools
3. As a result of this case segregation in the South
began
4. Supreme Court ruled the state law violated the
14th amendment
5. Court ruled that law cannot enforce social equality
6. Ruled that segregation in schools is inherently
unequal.
7. Separate but equal has no place in the constitution
8. Ruling stated that “separate but equal” was OK
9. Provided justification for segregation laws.
10. Blacks are equal politically but not socially
Complete evidence of learning
The ruling in Plessy v Ferguson said
that segregation did/didn’t violate the
14th amendment and “separate but
equal” was acceptable/not acceptable.
Ruling in Brown v Board stated that
segregation in public schools
violated/did not violate the 14th
amendment and “separate but equal”
was/wasn’t constitutional.
• How would you characterize the nature of the
protests by the Civil Rights movement?
• Why did the Civil Rights movement choose this kind
of direct action? Why was it important to show the
rest of America and the world the discrimination
African Americans in the South were facing
everyday?
• “ The reality of non violence being met with violence
was shocking” Explain and cite examples from the
movie?
• The protests in Birmingham led to important Civil
Rights legislation being passed How did this
legislation bring about more equality for African
Americans? In what other areas were African
Americans still unequal? ( hint 13th, 14th, 15th am. )