PRINTER'S NO. 3806
No. 720 Session of 2004
INTRODUCED BY CURRY, WASHINGTON, BEBKO-JONES, BELARDI, BISHOP,
BUXTON, CAPPELLI, CORRIGAN, COY, DAILEY, DALEY, DeWEESE,
D. EVANS, FABRIZIO, FEESE, FLEAGLE, FRANKEL, GABIG, GEORGE,
GRUCELA, HARPER, HENNESSEY, HERMAN, HERSHEY, HORSEY, JAMES,
JOSEPHS, KOTIK, LAUGHLIN, LEDERER, LEH, MANDERINO, MANN,
MARKOSEK, McILHATTAN, NAILOR, O'NEILL, PALLONE, REICHLEY,
ROEBUCK, ROSS, RUBLEY, SANTONI, SCHRODER, SHANER, TIGUE,
WEBER, WHEATLEY, WILLIAMS, WOJNAROSKI, BUNT, SCAVELLO,
PETRARCA AND CRAHALLA, MAY 6, 2004
INTRODUCED AS NONCONTROVERSIAL RESOLUTION UNDER RULE 35,
MAY 6, 2004
A RESOLUTION
1 Commemorating the 50th anniversary of the historic United States
2 Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education, which
3 declared unconstitutional the segregation of children in
4 public schools for no other reason than their race.
5 WHEREAS, Prior to the landmark Supreme Court decision in
6 Brown v. Board of Education, black Americans were alienated and
7 treated as second-class citizens who were not allowed the same
8 opportunities and privileges as white Americans; and
9 WHEREAS, In 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson upheld the concept of
10 "separate but equal" public facilities and schooling for black
11 Americans that kept the United States a divided nation; and
12 WHEREAS, Black Americans were forced to study in separate
13 substandard and poverty-stricken schools with outdated
14 textbooks, no basic school supplies and rough, long walks to
15 school; and
1 WHEREAS, Segregation in public schools imposed a feeling of
2 inferiority on black Americans that roused their desire for
3 social change; and
4 WHEREAS, In Topeka, Kansas, Oliver L. Brown attempted to
5 enroll and register his seven-year-old daughter, Linda Brown, at
6 a school for white children, where her application was
7 perfunctorily denied; and
8 WHEREAS, Oliver Brown and other frustrated and ardent black
9 Americans filed lawsuits with the support of the National
10 Association for the Advancement of Colored People challenging
11 the "separate but equal" doctrine; and
12 WHEREAS, Without knowing their court cases joined under Brown
13 v. Board of Education in 1951 would be one of the first
14 aggressive steps toward ending segregation in the United States,
15 Thurgood Marshall, James Nabrit, Jr., and George E. C. Hayes
16 challenged the long-established "separate but equal" doctrine
17 before the United States Supreme Court; and
18 WHEREAS, On May 17, 1954, at 12:52 p.m., the United States
19 Supreme Court overturned Plessy v. Ferguson and issued a
20 unanimous decision declaring it unconstitutional and in
21 violation of the 14th Amendment to separate children in public
22 schools for no other reason than their race; and
23 WHEREAS, The Brown v. Board of Education mandate harkened the
24 end of segregation in America and spurred the Civil Rights
25 Movement that transformed the lives of black Americans and the
26 laws of segregation in the United States; and
27 WHEREAS, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights
28 Act of 1964, ending discrimination and segregation and granting
29 all United States citizens equal rights to the privileges that
30 our country provides; and
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1 WHEREAS, Brown v. Board of Education set the standard for a
2 new America that accords equal rights to all people irrespective
3 of race; therefore be it
4 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives commemorate the
5 50th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, which declared
6 school segregation unconstitutional and overturned the "separate
7 but equal" doctrine; and be it further
8 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives urge the
9 continuation of remarkable and perpetually improving progress in
10 opportunities for black Americans; and be it further
11 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives recognize the
12 wisdom of Chief Justice Earl Warren and the eight members on the
13 United States Supreme Court who upheld equality as one of the
14 most basic rights in the Constitution of the United States,
15 which has stood the test of time and will endure.
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