‘A sense of inferiority affects the motivation of a child to learn”
(America’s Supreme Court)
Linda brown won her case however the disadvantage would still be the fact that an all white school is not going to be friendly to one little black girl although Linda would be better of as white schools had an advantage over all black schools economically, in the 1950s even transport to school that white children received was not open to black children also simple items like pens and pencils was hard to come across as black schools received less money than whites.
Education was a disadvantage in itself for black adults so politically the government passed laws like you had to read and write to be able to vote. In 1950s Mississippi only 5% out of its 45% African American population voted, there are many reasons for this the main one was economically you could lose your job and lynching and beatings were a common occurrence as the state led the nation in beatings , disappearances and lynching of African Americans. A boy named Emmet Til Til was only 14 when he was shot and beaten in 1955 for whistling at a white woman, his vicious murder illustrates how the rest of the world did not know about the disadvantages of black Americans even to the extent of the people that killed Emmet walking free from the courts.
Black Americans were often unable to break out of the cycle of poverty so they migrated north were segregation was not so obvious and more jobs were available as you could share transport and eating facilities which does not sound like much but was a big change from the highly segregated southern states. Economically black people were last to hired and 1st to be fired which was a disadvantage in itself also white workers feared black people would bring their wage down as they may settle for a smaller amount of money so they discriminated against them instead of giving them the fair chance they deserve.
In 1955 America still had huge disadvantages one being public transport. The law was not on black people’s side it allowed buses to discriminate against African Americans by making them sit at the back of the bus however a lady called Rosa Parks refused to get out of her seat for a white man. Rosa’s refuse sparked of meetings with Martin Luther King and the black community and a bus boycott protest was held for 368 days finally ending up in the supreme court ruling however Martin Luther King had values of non violence and not hitting back which was fantastic and very slowly proved to be an effective way of getting people and communities to take notice
The idea of protesting normally worked, like the bus boycott was very successful and laws changed but it also brought communities and particularly African Americans opinions together which was socially good also could prove to be an advantage in changing laws. The ku klux klan started up in 1865 in the southern states where they would sometimes even go to the extent of killing black Americans, the murderous crimes mostly went unnoticed by the law as some policemen and Judges attended these racist meetings this was a major disadvantage during the civil rights movement. The people at these meetings were very cowardly as they would not show their evil faces they were hidden behind huge white robes.
Finally the 1950s had over 70 years of segregation and people are starting to stand up and make a change with the law like the bus boycott and the brown vs. board education case. The law is a very hard thing to change and the civil rights movement goes beyond the 1950s with the disadvantages being tackled. I believe the disadvantages to all are racist and to find a vicious circle of a poor education, poor job which leads to poor housing in my opinion the 1950s were a jump start to an equal America.
