how did the brown vs board of education affect society

With the Southern Manifesto, the South also chose to give their students Freedom of Choice plans. Board of Education was a “clear abuse of judicial power” and these leaders further promised to use “all lawful means to bring about a reversal of this decision which is contrary to the Constitution and to prevent the use of force in its implementation”. These leaders represented states from Arkansas to as far east as Florida to as far north as Virginia who all agreed that the Supreme Court’s ruling in Brown v. Southern political leaders came together to sign this document they felt would counter the Supreme Court decision of Brown v. When federal courts mandated integration, the South responded with the Southern Manifesto. The Southern states were the most difficult to integrate. The most prevalent obstacle was for the state to close down a public school and offer state-supported tuitions and grants for Caucasian students to attend private schools. Mississippi and Louisiana made it illegal for students to attend racially mixed schools.

Georgia for example, made it a felony for any state official to spend public funds on integrating its schools. States made legal obstacles in the way of integration. Even though there was not state mandated segregation, individuals within the community segregated themselves. In Houston, the Caucasian community retaliated by abandoning the public school system. Statutory racial segregation disappeared and with that, Houston elected an African American Mayor. Under pressure, the school system unwillingly integrated. This decision came to be known as Brown II.

After reviewing the school system’s plea, the Supreme Court’s delegated that the task of integrating schools should be done “with all deliberate speed”(Rathbone 2). School systems were putting forth no effort to integrate their schools. One year after the infamous ruling, the Supreme Court decided to consider arguments made by the school systems who were requesting relief on integration. The outcome was fierce and spread like wildfire throughout the United States everyone became affected by the verdict whether they were for or against the Supreme Court’s decision.

How did the brown vs board of education affect society