 starter activity
In 1896 the court case ‘Plessy v Ferguson’ upheld
segregation if it was ‘separate but equal’ Compare these
segregated schools in the 1950s. How equal was the
education students were receiving?
How was desegregation
achieved in schools?
 Aims
To understand why the NAACP targeted
education
To understand the key ideas behind ‘Brown’
and assess its significance
In 1968, following the assassination of MLK, a teacher named
Jane Elliott deciding to carry out a ground-breaking experiment in
racial discrimination based on the eye colour of children in her
class. What do you find shocking about this film? Why do you
think the NAACP targeted education early on in its campaign?
Reasons for targeting education

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Inequalities staggering – 1949, Carolina state
spent $179 pa educating white children & $43
educating blacks
Vital first step towards improving lives of
African-Americans – improvements in education
could lead to improvements in employment
Shaping views of future generations
Topeka
 Your task
Read about the
case of Brown v
Board of
Education (1954)
on p.57-9. List the
reasons why
Oliver Brown (left)
decided to lodge
a case against
the state
authorities and
why the NAACP
thought they
could win.
Brown v. Board of Education






Church minister – thought it was morally wrong to
segregate schools
Practicalities - Linda Brown would have to travel 20
blocks to school
NAACP supported Brown’s case
Kansas was not a southern state – more chance of
achieving desegregation
Thurgood Marshall represented Brown
Chief Justice Earl Marshall was sympathetic to civil
rights
Victory!
Do you think the ruling Brown v. Board of Education (1954) did
more harm than good for the civil rights movement? Read p. 59
and give 5 reasons why the case arguably failed. Write them
around the picture of the girl on the right. Around Linda Brown
write down all the triumphs of this case.
Limitations

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No date for compliance set, even after Brown II ruling ‘with all
deliberate speed’
White Citizens Councils formed in southern states to defend
segregation (1/4m members by 1956)
KKK revitalised
Desegregation varied, e.g. 70% of border states within a year,
while southern states remained segregated
Backlash against NAACP, e.g. Alabama outlawed the
organisation
Senator Harry F Byrd began campaign of ‘massive resistance’.
101 congressman signed ‘Southern Manifesto’ rejecting the
Supreme Court ruling on desegregation in schools
Positive outcomes



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Overturned Plessy v Ferguson
Moral victory
Demonstrated importance of support at federal level
Legal processes could achieve far-reaching changes
 Plenary


Why did the NAACP target education?
On balance do you think Brown v Board of
Education was a success for the civil rights
movement?
 Extension

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Conduct research into Jane Elliott’s ‘Blue Eyes,
Brown Eyes’ experiment.
Read K. Wright, ‘The African-American
Experience’, p.484-5 and note down Earl
Warren’s reasons for supporting Brown’s case
Read A. Fairclough, ‘Better Day Coming’, p.218225 on the impact of the ruling