Separate But Equal Summary

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The Journey from ‘Separate but Equal’ – An Historical Analysis
Education is one of the most valuable aspects in a growing society. Children who have access to a quality education are more likely to graduate, obtain higher paying jobs, pay more taxes, and become actively engaged citizens. Historically, in America, the opportunity for a sound education was not granted to all children. Slavery, Indian Boarding Schools, Jim Crow Policies, and less funding for schools in America prohibited access to education for many Americans of color. America, a nation built largely on the notion of inequality for some, has made efforts to correct the errs of her ways. Throughout history there has been efforts to correct some discriminatory practices. One effort came during the
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The Fourteenth Amendment addressed two major issues, citizenship rights and equal protection. The citizenship clause states that ‘any person born or naturalized in the United States’ is an American citizen. The protection clause goes on to state that ‘all citizens should not be denied equal protection of the law’ (U.S. Const. amend. XIV). The Fourteenth Amendment has been used throughout history of constitutional law to force out waves of inequality and take steps toward a more just society. During the twentieth century advocates, organizations, lawyers, and citizens used the Fourteenth Amendment in efforts to eradicate the inequities in access to education. After decades of legal battles, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, that segregated schools violated children’s Fourteenth Amendment rights to equal protections under the law. Despite the promise of affirming equal rights to quality education for all children, significant disparities among racial, geographical, and socioeconomic demographics persist today. These