Breaking Barriers

1. Breaking Barriers By: Nita Tunga, Brigit Carrigan, Jenny Lane, and Brett Davis

2. The case of the century: Brown Vs. board Education Nita Tunga

3. Brown vs. board of education background info • Linda Brown, daughter of Oliver Brown, was required to attend an African American school • The school was on the other side of town • However, there was a white school only seven blocks away • When her parents tried enrolling her in the white school, their request was denied • Her parents sued the Board of Education, which created the basis for Brown vs. Board of Education

4. The case background info • Five states were involved in the Brown vs. Board of Education: Kansas (Oliver Brown was from here), Delaware, District of Columbia, South Carolina, and Virginia • The case occurred in 1954 • Plessy vs. Ferguson, which was the case of “separate but equal,” had set the stage for the Brown vs. Board of Education case

5. Segregation • Segregation is when African American people could not attend the same schools as white people • White schools were better than African American schools • White schools would have more books in better condition • African American schools would be stuffy and cramped

6. The case • Oliver Brown sued the Board of Education for denying his daughter the right to attend the white school close to his house • He was part of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) • NAACP was an organization that was trying to convince the Board of Education to improve black schools

7. The outcome • In 1954, the Supreme Court ruled segregation laws unconstitutional • Segregation was said to violate the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution • Though Brown won the case, his victory only affected education rather than ending racism • The case led to the beginning of integration

8. Rosa Parks bus boycott Brigit Carrigan

9. Rosa Parks Bus boycott • On December 1st, 1955, forty-two year old seamstress Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat. • The Bus Boycott occurred in Montgomery, Alabama. • The bus driver asked her to give up her seat because a man walked on the bus, but she refused. • She was sitting towards the middle of the bus and he wanted her to move to the back.

10. Rosa parks bus boycott • She was arrested because she “violated a city ordinance” and violated the “laws of segregation”. • This event was called the “Bus Boycott”. • She and many other decided to not ride to bus. • Martin Luther King Jr. was the leader of the Bus Boycott.

11. Rosa parks bus boycott • African-Americans were about 75% of the total people riding the bus in Montgomery, Alabama. • The Bus Boycott lasted 382 days. • Rosa led African-Americans to freedom and equality.

12. The March on Washington Jenny Lane