Civil Rights Movement
Many civil rights liberties and rights movements that have occurred in the United States took place in the 20th century (Hall, 2005). Many of these rights movements had great influence on the legislation processes that are being witnessed in the modern United States. Many of the civil rights movements occurred in 50’s, 60’s, 70’s and 80’s and can be traced to the infamous people. The following is an example of civil rights movement that has shaped a sense of social responsibility in United States of America.
Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
Regarded as one of the most important Supreme Court decisions of the 20th century, the Brown v. Board of Education decision held that racial segregation of children in the public schools violated the equal protection clause in the Fourteenth Amendment (Brown Henderson & Brown, 2016). Although this Supreme Court decision was not successful in creating a full segregation of public schools in the country, it brought the constitution of the United States in racial equality and was instrumental in turning the civil rights into a full revolution (Steffen, Schäfer-Wünsche, & Schafer-Wunsche, 2001).
Segregation in public schools was legalized by the infamous Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896 (Brown Henderson & Brown, 2016). As a result, large parts of the United States had racially segregated public schools. However, civil rights groups set up legal and political in the mid-twentieth century to challenge racial segregation in public schools. Many class action law suits were brought against public schools in 1950s by NAACP lawyers. One such action was Brown v. Board of Education filed against Topeka, Kansas School by Oliver Brown, a parent to one of the black children. Brown argued that racial segregation in Topeka violated the Equal protection clause as enshrined in the constitution because the city’s black and white schools were not and could not be equal. The federal court dismissed the law suit, but on appeal, the Supreme Court unanimously held that segregation in public schools violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
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