1954 Brown vs. Board of Education, Segregatation even Today

[AJE]

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Kathleen Brose, president of Parents Involved in Community Schools, fought back tears as she discussed her victory.

"It's been seven years. A lot of people have moved on, but I don't want another parent to go through what I did -- what we did," she said during a news conference.

Her daughter Elisabeth, now 22, wanted to attend Ballard High School, the closest high school to their Magnolia home. But she wasn't able to get into the school -- or into Roosevelt or Nathan Hale either.

She was assigned to her fourth choice -- Franklin -- but the school didn't have an orchestra for Elisabeth to play her cello. So she ended up at her fifth choice, Ingraham, for a year. She later transferred to a new school that opened at Seattle Center, The Center School.

The move was upsetting to the girl, who couldn't attend high school with her friends from junior high. Children are taught not to judge people by their skin color, yet students were denied access to certain schools because of their race.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19487601/

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070724/...egregration_dc
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FOR THOSE WHO FORGOT OR DON'T KNOW THIS CIVIL RIGHTS DEBATE:

BROWN VS. BOARD OF EDUCATION

Segregation of white and Negro children in the public schools of a State solely on the basis of race, pursuant to state laws permitting or requiring such segregation, denies to Negro children the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment -- even though the physical facilities and other "tangible" factors of white and Negro schools may be equal.

The background:

The Supreme Court ruled against the "seperate but equal" descision of Plessy vs. Ferguson when it decided in favor of Brown vs. the Board of Education. Linda Brown was a young school girl attending a segregated school in Topeka, Kansas. Although she lived only four blocks from a public school she could not attend it because it was for "whites only" and she was bused to a "blacks only" school five miles away. Her parents and others filed a class action lawsuit and won. Testimony from psychologist Kennth B. Clark conducted research with young black school age children and discussed the feeling of inferiority that segregation influenced. Clark also said that segregation had a "detrimental effect on personaility development and diminshed the motivation to learn". This had a tremendous impact on the court's decision of the case. The nine justices decided that it was necessary to look beyond the tangibles to the effects of seperation and decided that segregated schools were "inherently unequal". The importance of this decision was that it was a unanimous one, all nine justices, led by Chief Justice Earl Warren, voted the same. This was a strong statement compared to previous decisions on civil rights and it was this unamious voice that also led to a large scale enforcement of civil rights in the United States.

MY THOUGHTS: I thought 21st century America was supposed to be a nation of equality between cultures this just isn't right to incorporate racial segregations within the schools. Our Y-Z generations should be able to attend whatever districts they want to pursue higher education, this portrays a negative example toward our youth saying you’re to be categorized based on the color of your skin. I know I came from a small country town but I'm well aware of the trauma that’s been inflicted in US History because of our ethnicity. I'm afraid this issue will insight further slander, violence and mortality thanks to racial discrimination.

[AJE]

Excellent points Keith made in his article on "Our number one issue in Wisconsin is Education!"

forum:

http://www.thebubbler.com/modules.ph...iewtopic&t=188

Originally Posted by keith

Education is the key - to everything.

Better education means better jobs. Better jobs mean greater earnings. Greater earnings correlate to higher quality of life and more tax revenues per taxpayer, which in turn can lead to still higher quality of life.

Better education means better choices by better citizens.

...

Education isn't a panacea, but I've got to believe kids, including poor kids of color, will do better in uncrowded classrooms with great teachers. I believe that positive educational environments would result in better choices - even among our youth, including our young people with the biggest challenges.
...

We're in the information age now. It isn't just about training good workers, it is about training good thinkers.

[j10asen]

Originally Posted by AJE

Excellent points Keith made in his article on "Our number one issue in Wisconsin is Education!"

forum:

http://www.thebubbler.com/modules.ph...iewtopic&t=188

I agree!!!
Years ago Bob Keshan (sp) before he died was on the lecture circuit with a similar message.

I ask if our future is with our children, why are they off fighting ,dying and being forever damaged by a war?

[KateOYM]

My friends sent me a link with this story and petition... After signing the petition online I included my comments including "..All Men Are Created Equal - Practice what you preach America"

In a small highly segregated rural Louisiana town of Jena in September 2006, a black student asked permission from school administrators to sit under the shade of a tree commonly reserved for the enjoyment of white students. School officials advised the black students to sit wherever they wanted and they did. The next day, three nooses, in the school colors, were hanging from the same tree. The Jena high school principal found that three white students were responsible and recommended expulsion. The white superintendent of schools over-ruled the principal and gave the students a three day suspension, saying that the nooses were “a youthful stunt.” Black students decided to resist and organized a sit-in under the tree to protest the lenient treatment given to the noose-hanging white students.

Racial tensions remained elevated throughout the fall. On Monday, December 4 2006, a white student who allegedly had been racially taunting black students in support of the students who hung the nooses got into a fight with black students. Allegedly, the white student was taken to the hospital treated, released, reportedly attended a social function later that evening.

As a result of this incident, six black Jena students were arrested and charged with attempted second degree murder. All six were expelled from school. The six charged were: 17-year-old Robert Bailey Junior whose bail was set at $138,000; 17-year-old Theo Shaw - bail $130,000; 18-year-old Carwin Jones--bail $100,000; 17-year-old Bryant Purvis--bail $70,000; 16 year old Mychal Bell, a sophomore in high school who was charged as an adult and for whom bail was set at $90,000; and a still unidentified minor.

On the morning of the trial, the District Attorney reduced the charges from attempted second degree murder to second degree aggravated battery and conspiracy. Aggravated battery in Louisiana law demands the attack be with a dangerous weapon. The prosecutor was allowed to argue to the jury that the tennis shoes worn by Bell could be considered a dangerous weapon.

When the pool of potential jurors was summoned, fifty people appeared, all white. The jury deliberated for less than three hours and found Mychal Bell guilty on the maximum possible charges of aggravated second degree battery and conspiracy. He faces up to a maximum of 22 years in prison.

The rest of the Jena 6 await similar trials. Theodore Shaw is due to go on trial shortly. Mychal Bell is scheduled to be sentenced July 31. If he gets the maximum sentence he will not be out of prison until he is nearly 40 years.

You can view the full story here:
Jena 6

Sign the petition here:
Sign Now!

ColorOfChange.org, has a petition to the local DA and Governor Blanco at:
ColorOfChange.org/jena/index.html



View the "Free the Jena 6" website:
Justice in Jena!