Brown V Board of Education (Opening statements from Board)

    When describing the separation of blacks and whites on train cars in the case of Plessy V Ferguson, Justice Henry Brown wrote, “We consider the underlying fallacy of the plaintiff’s argument to consist in the assumption that the enforced separation of the two races stamps the colored race with a badge of inferiority. If this be so, it is not by reason of anything found in the act, but solely because the colored race chooses to put that construction upon it." What people fail to realize is that this rule also applies to whites. And you don’t hear them complaining of how this so called “unjust” separation is unconstitutional. 
The “separate but equal doctrine” speaks on the responsibility to ensure equal facilities. If we use our rational minds however we must implore ourselves to question how these equal facilities are obtained. Especially in the case of schools. Most of the funding for public schools is to come from taxpayer dollars. And not just any taxpayers. It’s those who live in the zone that their school is zoned for. It is near, if not impossible, to have equal facilities if we are to use this school of thought. In order for blacks to have “equal facilities” they need to pull their weight and pay their fair share of tax in order to build their schools up just as their white counterparts have. 

    For those that would then make the argument that it’d be impossible for the blacks to generate this amount of income in order to pay the taxes to build their schools up. Let me point out the glaring example we have before us in Tulsa, Oklahoma. What some might call black wall street. This was an area of volatile economic growth in which provided a safe haven for blacks where they could prosper on their OWN MERRIT. Now, the argument against the example just used would be “well the whites destroyed black wall street”. While this is a factual statement, the resolution to this is not to bring the blacks into our schools and infiltrate our way of life, the most reasonable resolution would be to enact protections for black economic growth. What ever happened to the concept of gradualism?
To the ideal that our way of life is just that, OUR WAY OF LIFE. When you combine things that aren’t meant to be combined the only outcome that can take place is chaos for all parties involved. If the plaintiff wishes to take legal action in order to ensure his daughter and his community have a fair shot at economic opportunity, maybe he should create some of that economic opportunity himself and stop trying to climb the backs of those who have already put in the work to be able to take hold of such opportunities.

     

“Separate but equal” should be left up to the very people that it affects in order to uphold it. It is up to these people create their own opportunities and paths to success in order to be
“equally separate”. All we, as board of education, are asking for is that we come to a reasonable resolution and not toss up an entire race of fine people’s way of life in order to benefit such a minute number of individuals. That we not throw away decades of tradition. That we not turn our backs on the principles this very country was founded upon. Your honor, please, I beg of you give us our reasonable resolution.

Additional Sources: https://www.oyez.org/cases/1850-1900/83us36, https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/347/483/#tab-opinion-1940809, https://www.nps.gov/people/oliver-brown.htm#:~:text=Oliver%20Leon%20Brown%20served%20as,but%20equal'%20has%20no%20place., https://www.oyez.org/cases/1940-1955/347us483, Right to Education in North CarolinaUNC School of Governmenthttps://www.sog.unc.edu › files › course_materials, Understanding education as a right | Right to Education InitiativeRight to Education Initiative |https://www.right-to-education.org › page › understandi..., Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857) - National ArchivesNational Archives (.gov)https://www.archives.gov › milestone-documents › dred..., Dred Scott v. SandfordOyezhttps://www.oyez.org › cases, http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/incorp.htm, https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/plessy-v-ferguson#, Separate but Equal - National Museum of American HistoryNational Museum of American Historyhttps://americanhistory.si.edu › history › 1-segregated › s...,  https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/brown-v-board-of-education