Brown V. Board Of Education Of Topeka Kansas

70th Anniversary Commemoration Of Brown V Board Of Education!

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The single most significant Supreme Court decision of the 20th century occurred exactly 70 years ago on May 17, 1954, when the Supreme Court, in an unanimous 9-0 decision, declared segregation in public education was unconstitutional, reversing the segregation decision in Plessy V Ferguson of 1896 after 58 years.

The fact that Chief Justice Earl Warren (1953-1969) was able to gain unanimous support on this case, including Southern members of the Court who were comfortable with segregation, is what made Earl Warren the greatest Chief Justice after John Marshall (1801-1835).

It also makes one very downcast and depressed at what has happened at the Supreme Court in recent decades, particularly since Donald Trump made three right wing appointments to be Supreme Court Justices, adding on to the two Presidents Bush who gave the nation the horrendous Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito.

Chief Justice John Roberts, also chosen by President George W. Bush, has been a great disappointment, unable to keep the Court balanced, and now containing two Justices totally out of control, arrogant, nasty, abusive, and not concerned about ethics and common decency.

This, along with the attack on DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion), and a reversal of Affirmative Action, has been not only promoted by this right wing dominated Supreme Court, but also by actions of Republican Governors Ron DeSantis of Florida, Greg Abbott of Texas, and a whole slew of other Republican governors nationwide.

This includes working to deemphazize African American history in educational curriculums, working to wipe out all of the advancements of the Civil Rights Movement after World War II for the next few decades.

Action must be taken to reverse this bigoted, right wing extremist agenda, and it begins by insuring Joe Biden wins a second term, and that, somehow, Democrats win the House of Representatives, and retain control of the US Senate.

This is a massive challenge that anyone who believes in fairness, and common decency, must engage in for the future of America as a shining beacon of change and tolerance.

75th Anniversary Of Truman’s Executive Orders 9980 And 9981, Desegregating The Federal Work Force And The US Military!

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One of the most courageous and principled actions of any President occurred 75 years ago today, when President Harry Truman issued Executive Orders 9980 and 9981, ordering desegregation of all US government employment and the US Military Forces.

Harry Truman came from a Confederate heritage background, and had a record of using nasty terms about African Americans in his earlier years, but as President, he took the courageous action to move forward on the important issue of human rights.

It alienated many Southerners, and the Dixiecrats (States Rights) Party challenged Truman in the Presidential Election Of 1948, with South Carolina Governor Strom Thurmond as their Presidential candidate, winning four states and 39 electoral votes.

This was the second best third party total up to that point in American history, behind Theodore Roosevelt and the Progressive (Bull Moose) party of 1912, which won six states and 88 electoral votes.

Later, George Wallace won five states and 46 electoral votes as the American Independent party nominee in 1968.

Truman’s decision to take action promoted the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement, aided within six years by the Warren Court decision in Brown V Board of Education (1954), and then by courageous actions by Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, and Lyndon B. Johnson over the next 15 years!

The Tea Party Put Into Action: The Tragedy Of Kansas Governor Sam Brownback

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Kansas is the state that helped to bring on the Civil War, due to bloodshed in that territory after the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854, allowing the possibility of the expansion of slavery into that Great Plains state.

Kansas was one of the centers of the Prohibition Movement, which led to the 18th Amendment and the Volstead Act, outlawing the manufacture and sale of intoxicating beverages in 1919, although Prohibition was ended by the 21st Amendment in 1933.

Kansas was the center of the segregation battles, as the only truly non Southern state to allow segregation of the races, becoming the center of attention in the Brown V. Board of Education Of Topeka, Kansas case in 1954, outlawing school segregation nationally.

Kansas was also the state of some of the major anti abortion battles, the murder of an abortion provider, Dr George Tiller, and the present attempt to prevent all abortions in the state, contestable in the federal courts right now.

And now, Kansas is the center of the greatest experiment of all in the promotion of the Tea Party Movement, with former Senator Sam Brownback now the new Governor of Kansas, and determined to promote its basic principles.

The goal of Brownback is to cut expenditures for education; take action against the Obama Health Care legislation; promote massive cuts in social service agencies and the arts; reduce the number of laws and regulations and state agencies; cut the number of state workers; and take advantage of the biggest Republican dominance in the state in a half century by working to eliminate even moderates in the party who oppose such drastic change.

Brownback is promoting the virtues of limited government, but his critics accuse him of “slash and burn” tactics, and a level of arrogance tied to his devout religious beliefs. The influence and support of the Koch Brothers, Charles and David, is clearcut in Kansas.

The critics believe Kansas will be damaged long term by what Brownback is doing, and that his hope of promoting economic growth in a state that has not seen for decades any major population surge will fail to be achieved.

Meanwhile, Kansas will continue to be at the center of some of the major controversies in the nation, as it has been since its beginning!

57 Years Ago Today, The Most Significant Supreme Court Decision Of The 20th Century!

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On this day in 1954, 57 years ago, the United States Supreme Court transformed America in a way never matched by any other decision of the entire 20th century!

The Court unanimously declared racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional in Brown V. Board Of Education Of Topeka, Kansas, a decision that ushered in the civil rights movement, not only in education, but in all areas of American society.

How far we have come, to the point that we have a black President, and have seen the successes of integration in American society to the point that there are many mixed race couples and children, and most Americans don’t even bat an eyelash at the changes that have come about.

Sure, there are still people in America who are racist, and that is true of all races. But the country is much better off for the courage of Chief Justice Earl Warren, who convinced the Justices of the Court of the absolute need for unanimity on the decision, and Associate Justice Hugo Black, who overcame his earlier Ku Klux Klan membership, to do the RIGHT THING!

It is hard to imagine a scenario whereby this decision had not come about, and to believe it possible that segregation would still be the law of the land.

This Brown decision is an example of the best that the Supreme Court has brought us in its 222 plus years of its history, and this is a moment to salute the Court and America for the wonderful event that occurred in 1954, and which we celebrate today!