ACR 140, as amended, Weber. 60th Anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education.
This measure would commemorate the 60th Anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education decision.
Fiscal committee: yes.
P2 1WHEREAS, High-quality education is essential to an informed
2citizenry, and is the foundation for democracy in the United States;
3and
4WHEREAS, Access to a high-quality education is the gateway
5to opportunity, America’s promise to all; and
6WHEREAS, A high-quality education for every citizen
7regardless of race, religion, ethnic background, or economic
8circumstance is a fundamental civil right under the American form
9of government; and
10WHEREAS, Education is the passport of opportunity that needs
11to be equally available for all; and
12WHEREAS, In 1896, the United States Supreme Court ruled
13in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) 163 U.S. 537 that segregation of the
14races at public facilities was legal so long as these facilities were
15“separate but equal,” which legitimized segregated public schools;
16and
17WHEREAS, On April 14, 1947, the United States Court of
18Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco held in Westminster
19School Dist. of Orange County et al. v. Mendez (9th Cir. 1947)
20161 F.2d 774 that segregated schools violated the equal protection
21clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States
22Constitution; and
23WHEREAS, Subsequent to the decision in Mendez v.
24Westminster, Governor Earl Warren, on June 14, 1947, signed
25into law the repeal of the remaining segregationist statutes in the
26California Education Code; and
27WHEREAS, In 1952 and 1953, the United States Supreme Court
28heard oral arguments on consolidated cases on appeal from United
29States District Courts of Kansas, Delaware, Virginia, and South
30Carolina under the name of Brown v. Board of Education of
31Topeka (1954) 347 U.S. 483, alleging similar arguments to those
32offered by famed National Association for the Advancement of
33Colored People (NAACP) legal counsel Charles H. Houston, who
34played a role in nearly every civil rights desegregation case before
35the United States Supreme Court between 1930 and Brown v.
36Board of Education, that “separate but equal” schools were, in
37fact, never equal and that these schools violated individual rights
P3 1to equal protection under the law guaranteed by the 14th
2Amendment to the United States Constitution;
and
3WHEREAS, The arguments were presented on behalf of the
4NAACP by its Chief Counsel, Thurgood Marshall, who eventually
5became the first African American United States Supreme Court
6Justice; and
7WHEREAS, Thurgood Marshall argued that segregated schools,
8many of which were substandard, were psychologically damaging
9to black children, causing low self-esteem and low self-worth,
10inherently depriving these children of equal protection under the
11law guaranteed by the 14th Amendment to the United States
12Constitution, and that under that amendment states had no legally
13valid reason to segregate and “use race as a factor in affording
14educational opportunities to its citizens”; and
15WHEREAS, Chief Justice of the United Statesbegin delete, and former Earl Warren wrote that “education is
16Governor of California,end delete
17perhaps the most important function of state and local
18governments,” and he persuaded each of the other eight justices
19of the Supreme Court that, even if schools were theoretically equal,
20the effect of segregation on black pupils “generates a feeling of
21inferiority as to their status in the community that may affect their
22hearts and minds in a way unlikely ever to be undone”; and
23WHEREAS, On May 17, 1954, the United States Supreme Court
24in Brown v. Board of Education unanimously overturned the
25“separate but equal” doctrine of law; and
26WHEREAS, The United States Supreme Court’s decision
27became the legal impetus to school desegregation throughout the
28United States, and led to one of the most profound social
29movements in the history of the United States; and
30WHEREAS, The reaction to the Brown v. Board of Education
31decision fueled emotions from both sides of the segregation
32argument, leading to the “Little Rock Nine,” a group of nine black
33high school students who were the first black students to attend
34the all white Little Rock High School in Arkansas. One of those
35students was Melba Pattillo Beals, who finished her high school
36education at the public Montgomery High School in Santa Rosa,
37California, and later received her bachelor’s degree from San
38Francisco State University; and
39WHEREAS, The activism generated to enforce the Brown v.
40Board of Education decision was a catalyst to the Civil Rights
P4 1Movement for equality that gained momentum in the 1960s and
2led to further desegregation of public facilities; and
3WHEREAS, The struggle for equal access to high-quality
4education continues today; and
5WHEREAS, The State Department of Education has included
6Brown v. Board of Education in the adopted history-social science
7standards and curriculum framework and ensured its presence in
8state-adopted instructional materials; now, therefore, be it
9Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate
10thereof concurring, That the Legislature commemorates the 60th
11Anniversary of the historic Brown v. Board of Education decision,
12one of the landmark United States Supreme Court decisions of the
1320th Century; and be it further
14Resolved, That a copy of this resolution be transmitted to the
15California School Boards Association, which is encouraged to
16disseminate copies to local boards of education throughout
17California; and be it further
18Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies
19of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.
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