Brown v. Board of Education's impact on American civil rights

¶ … Singular events can have profound impacts on the course of history: the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 proved as much. After the Second World War, the United States underwent tremendous economic and social transformations. Many of the changes that took place in American culture during the latter half of the twentieth century can be traced directly to one political, social, or fiscal event such as a scientific invention or a declaration of war. Events that serve as historical turning points are usually both causes and effects. Turning points in history represent the culmination of what transpired before and their repercussions reverberate throughout succeeding generations.

The 1950s: The End of Legal Segregation

The 1950s was characterized most by the aftermath of the Second World War and the American involvement in it. The Cold War and the communist scare in particular helped define American values and culture. However, the one single event that had the most dramatic impact on the course of American history was a landmark case settled by the American Supreme Court in 1954: Brown v. Board of Education of Tokeka. Not only did the case end legal segregation by overturning the "separate but equal" claim of Plessy v. Ferguson but the event kick-started the decades-long and still ongoing struggle for Civil Rights in America ("About the Case" 2004).

Prior to Brown v. Board of Education, American public schools were racially segregated. Much of the country was, in fact, segregated with separate drinking fountains and washrooms for Black and white citizens. Especially in the South, racial segregation was viewed as a correct, desirable social order that would preserve prevailing hierarchies based on the notion of white supremacy (Cozzens 1995). In glaring opposition to the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution affirming equal protection of the law for all American citizens regardless of race, gender or ethnicity, cases like Plessy v. Ferguson showed how deep the thread of racism ran in American society and how centuries of slavery continued to plague persons of African descent in the Untied States. The abolition of slavery nearly a century earlier did little to uplift the African-American community. Even in the more socially liberal northern states, blacks were regularly discriminated against and segregated in public institutions including schools. Blacks and whites did not have equal access to the same social, political, and economic resources. Brown v. Board of Education changed the way American social institutions operated by making racial segregation illegitimate and illegal. Not since the Fifteenth Amendment ensuring voting rights for African-Americans had any legislation so openly affirmed the rights of America's non-white citizens.

The Brown v. Board of Education case was a class action lawsuit initiated on a grassroots level by the parents of Topeka, Kansas school children, but the case was supported by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). The NAACP had since its inception in 1909 struggled to make Civil Rights a reality in America. Brown v. Board of Education was one of the greatest successes of the NAACP and the Supreme Court victory paved the way for future Civil Rights struggles such as those led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. King's roots as a political activist can be traced to the 1950s, when he helped organize the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955, one year after the Brown v. Board of Education decision was released. King's involvement in the Civil Rights movement flourished in the 1960s, and the NAACP's efforts became increasingly successful in the decades following Brown. As a result, the 1960s were characterized by even greater social upheavals in the United States related to Civil Rights activism. Final hypothesis: Brown v. Board of Education initiated the Civil Rights movement and helped end centuries of racial oppression in America.

The 1970s: Female Sexual Liberation

The 1970s started off on a mixed note. On the one hand, the moon landing and Civil Rights successes of the 1960s offered optimism; on the other hand, the Vietnam War raged on and Americans became increasingly dissatisfied with and cynical about politics. American social values and cultural norms were changing, in large part due to the Civil Rights movement but also to the hippie culture that sprouted during the 1960s. The hippie movement coincided with the Civil Rights movement, as both signified an age of peaceful protest and nonviolent dissent. One of the legacies of both the hippie movement and of the Civil Rights era was feminism. Feminism dominated the American social and political scene in the 1970s, culminating in a landmark Supreme Court case: Roe v. Wade. Prior to Roe v. Wade, abortion was a thorny topic, taboo in many socially conservative parts of the nation like Texas ("Roe v. Wade"). Contraceptives were relatively new, and women were just beginning to extricate themselves from the tyranny of patriarchy. Feminism became a key theme in 1970s political and public discourse, and Roe v. Wade symbolizes how far women had progressed in American society ("Roe v. Wade: Legalizing Abortion").

The Supreme Court had wrestled with the abortion issue since the 1960s. In 1970, a woman named Norma L. McCorvey (dubbed Jane Roe for the purposes of the trial) fought the Texan government for the right to obtain an abortion after being raped. Her victory and its subsequent appeal heard by the Supreme Court of the United States helped strike down restrictive, conservative Texan laws barring women from having abortions under any circumstances. The decision was heralded as a victory for women's rights in America. Although no single group was responsible for bringing the case to trial, Roe v. Wade reverberated as a major turning point for the social lives of Americans. The case also signaled the deep rift in American society between religious conservatives who oppose abortion and socially liberal Americans who view abortion, especially in cases where rape is suspected, as an essential human right. That women have the right to decide whether or not to bear children was a revolutionary concept. The effects of Roe v. Wade can still be felt today, as the decision remains one of the most controversial in American history. Final hypothesis: Roe v. Wade enhanced women's rights, allowing all American women to choose whether or not to become mothers.

The 1980s: AIDS

In 1981, the first AIDS cases were reported by the American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The disease had already spread in Africa but before the 1980s little if anything was known about the disease or its effect on the human population. Moreover, AIDS surfaced in America's gay communities. The link between homosexuality and disease gave many social conservatives an excuse to persecute people on the basis of their sexual orientation: AIDS was in many ways used as a propaganda tool to prove that homosexuality was a sin that was being punished by God in the form of a disease (Kopp 2000). Because of the widespread stigma against homosexuality in the United States and worldwide, medical research was thwarted and the disease became virtually synonymous with homosexuality.

It would take the death of one of America's most beloved, and seemingly straight, movie stars to prove that AIDS could affect anyone (Hiller 1985). When Rock Hudson died of the disease in 1985, Americans could see not only that homosexuality was normal and pervasive in society but also that AIDS was spreading more rapidly than was previously thought. The subsequent spread of the disease to straight communities also showed that AIDS was a disease transmitted primarily through sexual contact and blood transfusions; homosexuality had nothing to do with the illness whatsoever. Final hypothesis: The death of Rock Hudson forced Americans to rethink homosexuality and to face the AIDS epidemic squarely.

The 1990s: The First Gulf War

The decade opened with a literal bang when Iraq invaded Kuwait on August 2, 1990. Saddam Hussein's name became a household term, and President George Bush took him on in the first Gulf War. The extent of America's military and economic involvement in the Middle East was already well-established ("The Gulf War"). However, the first Gulf War would exacerbate tensions in the Middle East and without a doubt set the stage for the current crisis in Iraq (Cooper 2003).

George Bush, Sr.'s face-off with Saddam Hussein failed to oust the Iraqi dictator. In spite of heavy use of armed force, the Gulf War largely failed to accomplish the goal of political stability in Iraq and the easy access to that nation's oil reserves. The first Gulf War would have an enormous impact on the future of American history especially considering the current imbroglio in Iraq. After the two-term presidency of Bill Clinton that most characterized the 1990s, the son of George Bush, Sr. entered the White House flanked by nearly the same personnel that supported his father including Donald Rumsfeld. Final Hypothesis: The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait kick-started the first Gulf War and paved the way for the second one, which still rages on today.

Conclusion

During the next ten years, significant events will continue to change the course of American history. Social events related to increased civil rights for people of color and for women might prove to be the most important turning points in the future of American history because both women and people of color continue to experience financial and political setbacks. The declining American dollar and the rise of India and China as economic superpowers are seriously impacting life in the United States. An American Empire, which began in the early 20th century, may be coming to a close.