PRINTER'S NO. 1615
No. 271 Session of 2004
INTRODUCED BY C. WILLIAMS, SCHWARTZ, RHOADES, MELLOW, O'PAKE,
KITCHEN, BOSCOLA, KUKOVICH, DENT, STOUT, CONTI, EARLL,
WAGNER, ERICKSON, LEMMOND, LOGAN, RAFFERTY, TARTAGLIONE,
ARMSTRONG, CORMAN, PIPPY, LAVALLE, KASUNIC, WOZNIAK AND
STACK, MAY 11, 2004
INTRODUCED AND ADOPTED, MAY 11, 2004
A RESOLUTION
1 Commemorating May 17, 2004, as the 50th anniversary of the
2 historic Brown v. Board of Education decision.
3 WHEREAS, Brown v. Board of Education is one of the most
4 important cases in the history of the United States Supreme
5 Court dealing with racial segregation in the public schools; and
6 WHEREAS, The case reversed a 19th century court decision that
7 allowed racial segregation in education as long as equal
8 facilities were provided for both races; and
9 WHEREAS, In the early 1950s racial segregation in public
10 schools was the norm across America; and
11 WHEREAS, In Topeka, Kansas, an African-American third-grader
12 named Linda Brown had to walk one mile through a railroad
13 switchyard to get to her black elementary school, even though a
14 white elementary school was located only seven blocks away; and
15 WHEREAS, Brown's father tried to enroll his daughter in the
16 white elementary school, but the enrollment was refused by the
1 school principal; and
2 WHEREAS, Brown's father sought help from the National
3 Association for the Advancement of Colored People, which
4 requested an injunction against the segregation of Topeka public
5 schools, arguing that segregation sent the message that African-
6 American children were inferior to white children and that
7 segregated schools were inherently unequal; and
8 WHEREAS, Several other cases from South Carolina, Virginia
9 and Delaware were brought together under the Brown designation
10 on the same basic question: "Does the equal protection clause of
11 the 14th Amendment prohibit racial segregation in the public
12 schools?"; and
13 WHEREAS, On May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court unanimously
14 declared that separate educational facilities are inherently
15 unequal and, as such, violate the 14th amendment to the
16 Constitution of the United States, which guarantees all citizens
17 "equal protection of the laws"; and
18 WHEREAS, The case resulted in efforts by many school systems
19 to remove the imbalance by busing students; and
20 WHEREAS, The case had far-reaching effects, influencing civil
21 rights legislation and the civil rights movement of the 1960s;
22 therefore be it
23 RESOLVED, That the Senate commemorate the 50th anniversary of
24 the historic Brown v. Board of Education decision on May 17,
25 2004.
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