A Social Revolution? (1 of 6)
This is the first of an intended six posts about the social revolution created in part by the U.S. Supreme Court in its Brown vs. Board of Education decision. The next post will review Brown I and the third, Brown II. The fourth post in this series will discuss events from Brown II to the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The fifth post will cover the civil rights acts of 1964 and 1968 The last post in this series will examine the Supreme Court’s Griswold decision. This post briefly covers a selection of related facts and events from 1945 to 1953 to characterize the context facing the Court in 1954
A selected chronology
In 1945 seven African Americans were lynched.… Read the rest
A Social Revolution?
Because Brown II focused solely on implementation the arguments in the Court demonstrated attention to detail. The Supreme Court and the lower federal courts were equity courts. This gave them a wide range of options to fashion remedies. The issue of time became a key area of concern. Suggestions regarding time ranged from an immediate decree for action to a decree with no fixed date for the end of segregation.
Court arguments
The opening argument before the Court dealt with the Virginia and South Carolina cases. The civil rights attorney representing the Negroes called for desegregation as soon as the necessary administrative procedures could be implemented.… Read the rest
Recent Comments