Blog #6: Judicial Branch and the Brown v. Board of Education

The Judicial Branch has had the greatest impact historically on desegregation due to such cases as the Brown vs. Board case, Cooper v. Aaron case, Griffin v. Prince Edward County School Board case, and Swann v. Charlotte-Macklenburg Board of Education. The criticism that Brown failed to address its limited enforcement power and that Brown generated an incredible backlash that actually worsened race relations is fair for many reasons. First, the facts show that less than 1 % of black school-age children in the Deep South were attending schools with whites 10 years after the decision, meaning the Brown decision was not very effective. Part of the reason for this fact is that some states refused to cooperate and used mass resistance to hinder its effectiveness. To counter the massive resistance, large civil rights movements formed, greatly increasing racial tension. Then, to counter civil rights movements, racial movements led by radical white supremists countered the counter movements, often leading to violence, such as the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Also, individual white supremists chose to rebel against the Brown decision by keeping their children home and home-schooling them. Pursuit of federal legislation may have been faster due to having more power to enforce the legislation. But, with the racism that existed during those times, the same types of resistance would have occured, and may have actually been worse and more violent. Overall, though, the final result would have been reached either way, for the Brown decision did for the most part do its job in integrating the South, even though racism is still lurking in the shadows still today.