Segregation at  School:  The case of Linda Brown and The Little Rock Nine

 

The Declaration of Independence stated that "All men are created equal” but history itself says something different. Due to discrimination and segregation African American people started to fight against these injustices and for what they thought was right. Education was not the exception and that is why I chose a very significant case in the history of laws in the USA. Brown v/s Education which decision was the first step to inclusion in terms of education

In the 1950s, In Topeka (Kansas), schools were divided by race. Each day, Linda Brown and her sister had to walk through a dangerous railroad switchyard to get to the bus stop for the ride to their all-black elementary school ,Although there was a school closer to the their house, it was only for white students. Linda Brown and her family believed that the segregated school system was against the Fourteenth Amendment and took their case to court. The result: the Supreme Court stated: We conclude that the doctrine of 'separate but equal' has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal." —Chief Justice Earl Warren.

After the decision of this case, another significant event took place in Little Rock Central High School in the fall of 1957, by the inclusion of nine teenagers (known as “The Little Rock Nine”) whose first day of class was even covered by the media. They received verbal abuse and threats from the crowd outside and when they realized they had successfully entered the school, violence erupted, and seven journalists were attacked.
Segregation doesn't has to do just with the color of skin. Actually  there are many cases of discrimination due to cultural diversity. Mendez v/s Westiminster preceded Brown v/s Education.In this case, nine year old Olivia Mendez was segregated from an "only white" school because of her mexican origin.Her case went to courtin 1947 and she won.

In spite of Supreme Court’s decision, segregation in public schools can still be seen and after more than 50 years Martin Luther King’s dream hasn’t fully became true, not yet.

I encourage you, as future teachers of English to think about the topic discussed here. and share your opinions and points of view ¿Do you agree that segregation is still a problem nowadays?