Readings:
- Brown vs Board of Education 387 US 483
- Anderson, "Cross to bear and promises to keep: The Jubilee Anniversary of Brown vs. the Board of Education"
- Davis, "Merry-Go-Round"
- Moll, "Brown Lecture"
- ¿What are the main “points” of Brown?
- ¿How do the articles by Anderson and Davis reinforce, modify, or negate the argument in Brown?
- ¿How does Moll’s lecture extend our view of the issues in Brown?
One of the main idea that Dr. Ruiz pointed out to us about Brown vs. Brown and how the plaintiffs in this case argued that segregation was inherently unequal. What does this mean? Does it imply that only through the guidance or leadership of whites will the black be able to be equal. I have not of this decision in this way. It gave me pause to think.
ReplyDeleteAnother statement in class that made me think was, "Sameness doe not mean equality". Well, what is equality anyway? All my life when ever I start to complain about something that is unfair or not equal, I hear the phase, "Life is not fair". Is equality about fairness or is it something else entirely?
ReplyDeleteJust getting my facts straight here:
ReplyDelete1) 14th Amendment (1868)dealing with citizenship, due process and equal protection.
2) Plessy vs. Ferguson (1896) dealing with segregation, separate but equal.
3) There were other court cases leading up to Brown vs the Board of Education (1954) including: Gon Lum vs Rice (1927) and Mendez vs Westminster (1946).
It took almost 100 years after the Civil War ended before the Black people got legislation that gave them a voice in the American democracy.
In the PBS series, Eyes on the Prize: The Civil Right Years, I was amazed and ashamed of how our country acted during these years. From my jaded view point, where I believe that a few cannot make a difference, I was happy to see that it can be done, but there is a high price to pay for those few that step forward.
Personal Note: I grew up in the south and I asked my mom about the Ole Miss and James Meredith. She remembers all of the National Guard on the highway as she drove me to a doctor's appointment. She said she cried all the way. She said it was a sad and scary time in the South.
My father died three weeks after Martin Luther King Jr. was killed. We moved from a small town to Memphis. I was young (only 6), but I remember my grandmother coming to our new house and putting about 10 locks on our front door. I thought she was crazy, but I was young. :-)
Fun word - Propinquity Effect -
ReplyDeleteThe closer (physically) you are to someone the more likely you are to be friends with them. So the more you see and interact with a person, the more likely you are to become friends.
Is this what desegregation was suppose to do? Did it work?