BILL NUMBER: ACR 140	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Weber
   (Coauthors: Assembly Members Bradford, Brown, Hall, Holden,
Jones-Sawyer, and Ridley-Thomas)
   (Coauthor: Senator Mitchell)

                        APRIL 23, 2014

   Relative to the 60th Anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   ACR 140, as introduced, Weber. 60th Anniversary of Brown v. Board
of Education.
   This measure would commemorate the 60th Anniversary of the Brown
v. Board of Education decision, and would urge the State Department
of Education to provide model instructional materials to schools that
encourage schools to observe the decision with appropriate
educational activities that help pupils understand the importance of
tolerance, humanity, and equality of opportunity.
   Fiscal committee: yes.



   WHEREAS, High-quality education is essential to an informed
citizenry, and is the foundation for democracy in the United States;
and
   WHEREAS, Access to a high-quality education is the gateway to
opportunity, America's promise to all; and
   WHEREAS, A high-quality education for every citizen regardless of
race, religion, ethnic background, or economic circumstance is a
fundamental civil right under the American form of government; and
   WHEREAS, Education is the passport of opportunity that needs to be
equally available for all; and
   WHEREAS, In 1896, the United States Supreme Court ruled in Plessy
v. Ferguson (1896) 163 U.S. 537 that segregation of the races at
public facilities was legal so long as these facilities were
"separate but equal," which legitimized segregated public schools;
and
   WHEREAS, In 1952 and 1953, the United States Supreme Court heard
oral arguments on consolidated cases on appeal from United States
District Courts of Kansas, Delaware, Virginia, and South Carolina
under the name of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954) 347
U.S. 483, alleging similar arguments to those offered by famed
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
legal counsel Charles H. Houston, who played a role in nearly every
civil rights desegregation case before the United States Supreme
Court between 1930 and Brown v. Board of Education, that "separate
but equal" schools were, in fact, never equal and that these schools
violated individual rights to equal protection under the law
guaranteed by the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution;
and
   WHEREAS, The arguments were presented on behalf of the NAACP by
its Chief Counsel, Thurgood Marshall, who eventually became the first
African American United States Supreme Court Justice; and
   WHEREAS, Thurgood Marshall argued that segregated schools, many of
which were substandard, were psychologically damaging to black
children, causing low self-esteem and low self-worth, inherently
depriving these children of equal protection under the law guaranteed
by the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution, and that
under that amendment states had no legally valid reason to segregate
and "use race as a factor in affording educational opportunities to
its citizens"; and
   WHEREAS, Chief Justice of the United States Earl Warren wrote that
"education is perhaps the most important function of state and local
governments," and he persuaded each of the other eight justices of
the Supreme Court that, even if schools were theoretically equal, the
effect of segregation on black pupils "generates a feeling of
inferiority as to their status in the community that may affect their
hearts and minds in a way unlikely ever to be undone"; and
   WHEREAS, On May 17, 1954, the United States Supreme Court in Brown
v. Board of Education unanimously overturned the "separate but equal"
doctrine of law; and
   WHEREAS, The United States Supreme Court's decision became the
legal impetus to school desegregation throughout the United States,
and led to one of the most profound social movements in the history
of the United States; and
   WHEREAS, The reaction to the Brown v. Board of Education decision
fueled emotions from both sides of the segregation argument, leading
to the "Little Rock Nine," a group of nine black high school students
who were the first black students to attend the all white Little
Rock High School in Arkansas. One of those students was Melba
Pattillo Beals, who finished her high school education at the public
Montgomery High School in Santa Rosa, California, and later received
her bachelor's degree from San Francisco State University; and
   WHEREAS, The activism generated to enforce the Brown v. Board of
Education decision was a catalyst to the Civil Rights Movement for
equality that gained momentum in the 1960s and led to further
desegregation of public facilities; and
   WHEREAS, The struggle for equal access to high-quality education
continues today; now, therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate
thereof concurring, That the Legislature commemorates the 60th
Anniversary of the historic Brown v. Board of Education decision, one
of the landmark United States Supreme Court decisions of the 20th
Century; and be it further
   Resolved, That the State Department of Education is urged to
provide model instructional materials to schools that encourage
schools to observe the Brown v. Board of Education decision with
appropriate educational activities that help pupils understand the
importance of tolerance, humanity, and equality of opportunity; and
be it further
   Resolved, That a copy of this resolution be transmitted to the
California School Boards Association, which is encouraged to
disseminate copies to local boards of education throughout
California; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
the resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.