[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 508 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 508

  Recognizing and honoring the 50th anniversary of the United States 
         Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 28, 2004

Mr. Payne submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
  Recognizing and honoring the 50th anniversary of the United States 
         Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education.

Whereas 2004 marks the 50th anniversary of the United States Supreme Court 
        decision in the case of Brown v. Board of Education (347 U.S. 483);
Whereas in the 1896 case of Plessy v. Ferguson (163 U.S. 537), the Supreme Court 
        upheld the doctrine of ``separate but equal'' and allowed the continued 
        segregation of public schools in the United States based on race;
Whereas in 1951, Linda Brown, an African-American third grader, filed suit 
        against the Board of Education of Topeka after she was denied admission 
        to an all-white public school in Topeka, Kansas;
Whereas in 1952, Linda Brown's case was combined with similar cases throughout 
        the United States and argued in front of the Supreme Court by future 
        Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall;
Whereas the students argued that even if the educational facilities were of 
        equal quality, segregation caused the education of the students to be 
        inherently unequal;
Whereas the students further argued that the inequality caused by the 
        segregation of public schools was a violation of their right to equal 
        protection under the law guaranteed by the 14th amendment to the 
        Constitution of the United States;
Whereas on May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court overturned the decision of Plessy v. 
        Ferguson, agreeing with the arguments offered by the students and 
        concluding that ``in the field of public education, the doctrine of 
        `separate but equal' has no place'';
Whereas the Supreme Court determined that segregated schools are not equal 
        because the separation generates a feeling of inferiority among minority 
        students ``that may affect their hearts and minds in a way unlikely to 
        ever be undone''; and
Whereas the decision in Brown v. Board of Education led to the eventual 
        desegregation of all public schools in the United States: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) recognizes and honors the 50th anniversary of the 
        United States Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of 
        Education; and
            (2) encourages all Americans to recognize the historical 
        importance of the Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of 
        Education.
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