File #: Res 0058-2004    Version: * Name: 50th Anniversary of the decision of the United States Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas.
Type: Resolution Status: Filed
Committee: Committee on Cultural Affairs, Libraries and International Intergroup Relations
On agenda: 2/4/2004
Enactment date: Law number:
Title: Resolution commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the decision of the United States Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, in connection with the celebration of Black History month.
Sponsors: Bill Perkins, Tracy L. Boyland, Gale A. Brewer, Yvette D. Clarke, Lewis A. Fidler, Alan J. Gerson, Eric N. Gioia, Robert Jackson, Letitia James, James Sanders, Jr., Philip Reed
Council Member Sponsors: 11

Res. No. 58

 

Resolution commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the decision of the United States Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, in connection with the celebration of Black History month.

 

By Council Members Perkins, Boyland, Brewer, Clarke, Fidler, Gerson, Gioia, Jackson, James, Sanders and Reed

 

Whereas, On May 17, 1954, the United States Supreme Court issued its decision in the case of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas (the “Brown” decision), ruling that the doctrine of “separate but equal” in public education, which, for almost sixty years, had been used to segregate African Americans in many public school systems throughout the nation, was unconstitutional; and

Whereas, Specifically, the Brown decision held that “separate but equal” public schools violated the guarantee of equal protection contained in the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution; and

Whereas, After the Brown decision, public schools throughout the United States were desegregated; and

Whereas, Further, in 1957, to enforce the Brown decision, the public schools of Little Rock, Arkansas, were forcibly desegregated by federal troops who escorted nine African American students to the city’s Central High School; and

Whereas, According to civil rights organizations such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Brown decision inspired the marches and demonstrations of the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s which, in turn, ultimately led to the enactment of civil rights legislation, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Fair Housing Act of 1968; and

Whereas, Therefore, the Brown decision became a landmark and a turning point in the struggle for civil rights for African Americans and for equality in education for all Americans; and

Whereas, The rights conferred by the Brown decision and by the civil rights legislation that followed are, today, viewed as bedrock principals of equality and justice; and

Whereas, Furthermore, until such day that all Americans receive equal treatment pursuant to the law, without regard to race, the Brown decision, and the principles that it stands for, will remain a vital and necessary part of American law and culture; now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York commemorates the 50th Anniversary of the decision of the United States Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, in connection with the celebration of Black History month.

(MHG)

LS# 18

January 30, 2004