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narrator: "WE MAY NOT WIN TODAY OR TOMORROW,"
CHARLES HOUSTON WROTE IN 1947,
"BUT THE STORM GATHERS.
"AND ALL THE PRIDE AND POWER OF PREJUDICE
WILL BE SWEPT AWAY."
HOUSTON DID NOT LIVE TO SEE LEGAL SEGREGATION ABOLISHED,
BUT THE FIGHT CONTINUED FOLLOWING HIS DEATH IN 1950.
IN FACT, IT WAS TIME TO TEST THE FINAL PHASE OF HIS STRATEGY.
IT WAS TIME TO PUT THE CONCEPT OF SEPARATE ON TRIAL.
THE NAACP FILED SUIT ON BEHALF OF THE REVEREND OLIVER BROWN
AND A DOZEN OTHER FAMILIES LIVING IN TOPEKA, KANSAS.
BROWN'S DAUGHTER, LINDA,
WAS FORCED TO WALK 21 BLOCKS TO THE NEAREST BLACK SCHOOL,
WHILE THERE WAS A COMPARABLE WHITE SCHOOL
ONLY SEVEN BLOCKS AWAY.
THE CASE WAS CONSOLIDATED
WITH FOUR OTHER CASES OF SCHOOL SEGREGATION
AND CAME BEFORE THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT
BEARING ONE NAME:
OLIVER BROWN VERSUS
BOARD OF EDUCATION OF TOPEKA, KANSAS.
ON BEHALF OF THE PLAINTIFFS,
THURGOOD MARSHALL ARGUED
THAT IT WAS NOT ENOUGH TO HAVE EQUAL PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
HE PRODUCED EVIDENCE
THAT SUGGESTED SEGREGATION ITSELF
BRANDED BLACK CHILDREN WITH A STAMP OF INFERIORITY
THAT AFFECTED THEIR ABILITY TO LEARN.
FOR THE DEFENDANTS,
ATTORNEY JOHN W. DAVIS BASED HIS ARGUMENT
ON THE 1896 PRECEDENT OF PLESSY VERSUS FERGUSON.
HE ASSERTED THAT NEGROES SHOULD NOT THROW AWAY,
"THE EQUALITY THAT EXISTED BETWEEN BLACK AND WHITE SCHOOLS
SIMPLY TO ACHIEVE PRESTIGE."
FOR 17 MONTHS, THE NATION WAITED.
FINALLY, ON MAY 17, 1954,
THE COURT HANDED DOWN ITS OPINION.
BEFORE A HUSHED COURTROOM,
CHIEF JUSTICE EARL WARREN READ THE UNANIMOUS DECISION.
- [as Warren] "IN THE FIELD OF PUBLIC EDUCATION,
"THE DOCTRINE OF SEPARATE BUT EQUAL
"HAS NO PLACE.
"SEPARATE EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES
ARE INHERENTLY UNEQUAL."
narrator: THE NEWS RESOUNDED
IN EVERY QUARTER OF AMERICAN SOCIETY.
THE ***-OWNED
"CHICAGO DEFENDER" NEWSPAPER WROTE:
- "NEITHER THE ATOM BOMB NOR THE HYDROGEN BOMB
"WILL EVER BE AS MEANINGFUL TO OUR DEMOCRACY
AS THE UNANIMOUS DECISION OF THE SUPREME COURT."
narrator: FEW SOUTHERNERS WELCOMED THE BROWN DECISION.
THE MOST VENOMOUS CRITICS PREDICTED A NEW RACIAL WAR.
- "HUMAN BLOOD MAY STAIN SOUTHERN SOIL,
"BUT THE DARK RED STAINS OF THAT BLOOD
"WILL BE ON THE MARBLE STEPS
OF THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT BUILDING."
narrator: THE PROGRESSIVE NEWSPAPERMAN,
HODDING CARTER, JR., THOUGHT DIFFERENTLY.
- [as Carter] "FOR 75 YEARS,
"WE SENT *** KIDS TO SCHOOL IN HOVELS AND PIG PENS.
"WE MUST REPLACE TRICKERY AND SUBTERFUGE
"WITH AN HONEST REALIZATION THAT EVERY AMERICAN CHILD
HAS THE RIGHT TO AN EQUAL EDUCATION."