the brown decision

How Significant was the Brown Decision to the Civil Rights Movement?

The Brown vs Board of Education decision has been seen by many historians as a key moment in the Civil Rights movement, setting a benchmark on what can be achieved through the legal court system. The actions of Oliver Brown, a black parent who objected to the fact his daughter Linda was denied entry to an all-white school and had to travel a mile to go to an all-black school, demonstrated that the methods of taking issues through the Supreme Court could get a ruling in their favour, highlighting the significance of the event. However the Brown decision did have its faults and its results were not as far reaching. Showing it may not be that significant. Discrimination in education continued to happen. One can use as evidence an incident in Little Rock in 1957 when racism was demonstrated by White people when the ‘little rock nine’ were denied entry to an integrated school.

A strong reason that the Brown decision was significant is that it showed that a result could be made for Black rights if it was taken for consideration by the Supreme Court. This can be supported by Cathy Warren who states that ‘The Brown verdict was a milestone for civil rights: it showed that the legal route could get results.’ This legal result was much of the work of Earl Warren the new chief justice who gave his wholehearted response in supporting desegregation. As he said ‘We conclude that in the field of public education the doctrine of separate but equal has no place’.  This shows that by law Linda Brown and other Black students should be able to go to a White school as in effect all-white schools were illegal. The Brown case set a benchmark for other Black people to take all sort of issues through the Supreme Court. As Vivienne Saunders states ‘…Brown meant that Blacks no longer had to wait for justice from the courts. They would demand it themselves now that the law was on their side.’ Having the law on side meant a glimmer of hope that change could happen.

However the Brown decision did not go far enough and as a result weakens its significance. ‘There was a big difference between winning a legal case and changing the situation in practice’ writes Cathy Warren. This is a strong argument. After Brown the Civil Rights movement faced problems at a Little Rock school. Although some border states like Missouri co-operated the Governor of Arkansas did not. He employed many tactics that bent the Supreme Court rulings. White councils popped up to challenge the rulings of the Supreme Court and there was a spike of popularity and admissions to the Ku Klux Klan. In essence Cathy Warren highlights that the ‘opposition to desegregation and integration was highly effective’. At Little Rock the authorities made it difficult for students to pass the entrance exams to get into school. They also had to walk the gauntlet of racist chants and abuse trying to get into school. This is what happened to the Little Rock Nine. She goes on to state other similar tactics such as ‘Sometimes financial aid was withdrawn from schools that allowed black students in.’ This shows that despite the benchmark set by Brown stating that separate schools were wrong they had no way of making sure Black pupils could go to school or punishing those that ignored its rulings. It was just empty words without someone to force it. Arguably this could be done by the president but President Eisenhower was ‘neither emotionally nor intellectual in favour of combating segregation.'

It could also be argued that it was other events that limited its scope. The ruling only talked about education. It did not protect Black people’s right to marry who they wanted or the quality of housing they wanted. It also could not curb the racist views that people had and as such had no way of stopping the ‘white citizen’ councils or ‘Southern manifestos’ popping up. This shows that what the courts said was wrong was never protected in practice.

In conclusion we cannot exaggerate the significance of Brown as it was limited in its impact on the Civil Rights Movement. It did not end racism overnight as it still was evident at Little Rock in 1957 with the abuse hurled by white men and women when students tried to enter school and also receiving racist abuse by White Northerners as Black citizens moved to the North where less places were segregated (Dierenfield). The ruling made by the Supreme Court had an impact on paper but was less effective when people disobeyed it. It didn’t stop White councils popping up or a Southern manifesto highlighting their determination to stop integration. More was needed to make sure Black citizens were protected.

Chris