A LOOK BACK: KAPPA HISTORY
schools solely on the basis of race, even though the physical facilities and other ‘tangible’ factors may be equal, deprive the children of the minority group of equal education opportunities? We believe that it does.” The opinion stated that “sepa- rate educational facilities are inherently unequal” and that the separate but equal doctrine, which allowed states to maintain
with white children, who would make up 90 percent of the society in which the black child would have to live. Expert witness Louisa Holt, an Assistant Profes- sor of Psychology at KU, testified that “the legalization of segregation is inevitably interpreted both by white people and by Negroes as denoting the inferiority of the Negro group.” Racial segregation harmed
In early 1953, the Supreme Court justices deliberated on Brown v. Board of Educa- tion and decided that one issue hadn’t been thoroughly discussed. On Sept. 8, 1953, 63-year-old Chief Justice Fred Vinson died of a heart attack. President Dwight Eisenhower nominated Earl War- ren, former governor of California, as his replacement. The justices ordered the at-
racially segregated schools, had “no place” in public education. In these days it is doubtful that any child may reasonably be expected to succeed in life if he is denied the opportunity of an education. Such an opportunity, where the state has undertaken to provide it, must be made available to all on equal terms. We conclude that in the field of public education the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal. Therefore, “we hold that the plaintiffs and others similarly situated ... are ... deprived of the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the 14th Amendment.” The decision dealt specifically with educational facilities, but it had a far-ranging effect in eliminating state-sanctioned seg- regation, not only in schools, but also in public accommodations including parks, libraries, restau- rants and theaters. The court’s decision in the Brown V. Board of Education Case began the
“the personality development of the Negro child.” Holt’s testi- mony would later be used nearly verbatim in the U.S. Supreme Court’s unanimous decision that ended school segregation across the country. Brother Ronald Griffin, a Law Professor at Wash- burn University summarized that the plaintiffs introduced expert testimony that “segrega- tion stigmatized the children and wounded them in a psychological way and made state-sponsored segregation something that was constitutionally unsupportable.” The Federal District Court ruled in favor of the Topeka Board of Education citing the Plessy case. However, presiding judge, Walter A. Huxman wrote in the court’s finding of facts that the plaintiffs had proved the dam- age caused by state-sanctioned segregation. NAACP attorneys immediately filed an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. When the Kansas case reached the high court, it was combined
process of dismantling segregated public school systems in 16 states that required separate facilities as well as the District of Columbia and four states including Kansas. Brown V. Board of Education Case overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson, ‘separate but equal doctrine’.
with other NAACP cases from Delaware, South Carolina, Virginia and the District of Columbia. One obstacle was the national NAACP required the local chapter to raise $5000 to cover the cost for them to take the case to the Supreme Court. As part of the fundraising, Washburn University Chapter, the Rho of Kappa Alpha Psi Rho Chapter and Topeka Alumni Chapter threw parties to raise the money for the case. Brother Charles Scott helped prepare the Supreme Court case and its strategy and was the attorney of record. He didn’t argue the case before the Supreme Court.
torneys to reargue the case with a hearing date set for December 1953. By February 1954, Chief Justice Warren knew at least seven of the nine justices wanted to out- law segregated public schools. By March, only Justice Stanley Reed of Kentucky opposed Thurgood Marshall and the other NAACP attorneys and by May 1954, Warren had persuaded Justice Stanley Reed to vote for the plaintiffs, too. On May 17, 1954 at 12:52 p.m., the justices assembled and Chief Justice Warren delivered the unanimous ruling in the Brown v. Board of Education case: “Does segregation of children in public
The Aftermath of the Case
In May 1955, the Supreme Court urged the nation’s school boards to desegregate “with all deliberate speed.” The next year, the Topeka school board approved a plan to remove "all vestiges of racial privilege" by 1961 and to adopt a policy that stated
Publishing achievement for 105 years
THE JOURNAL SPRING ISSUE | 77
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