ERIC Number: ED264340
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1984
Pages: 14
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Civil Rights Law and the Brown Decision.
Greenberg, Jack
The Brown decision of 1954 was the product of a planned program of litigation begun in the late 1920s and the early 1930s by a group of Black lawyers. Their work would not have succeeded if the ethos of the United States had not been changing simultaneously. The growth of a climate more conducive to civil rights is reflected in the presidential administrations of Truman through Carter. The 1947 "Truman Committee Report" called for changes in American life and law, with regard for race relations, and under Truman, the national government supported civil rights lawyers in some of their most important litigation. Although Eisenhower was reportedly appalled by the Brown decision, he did nothing to hinder the implementation of the decision and sent military forces to Little Rock, Arkansas, when the first armed insurrection against Brown arose. Kennedy supported Brown both publicly and privately, and Johnson was a vigorous proponent of civil rights, who fought effectively for the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1965 and created bureaucracies which have been necessary for executing national civil rights programs. Nixon openly opposed school integration. Still, he implemented the laws and more school desegregation took place during his administration than in any other. President Carter appointed more Blacks and women as judges than ever before in American history, and began a policy of international human rights. The Reagan administration, in sharp contrast, opposed school integration and tried to grant tax exemption to segregating academies. It is not yet clear whether these actions represent a temporary or permanent movement within the national attitude toward civil rights. (KH)
Publication Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers; Opinion Papers; Reports - General
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A