To former abolitionists and to the Radical Republicans in Congress who fashioned Reconstruction after the Civil War, the 15th amendment, enacted in 1870, appeared to signify the fulfillment of all promises to African Americans. Set free by the 13th amendment, with citizenship guaranteed by the 14th amendment, black males were given the vote by the 15th amendment.

From that point on, the freedmen were generally expected to fend for themselves. In retrospect, it can be seen that the 15th amendment was in reality only the beginning of a struggle for equality that would continue for more than a century before African Americans could begin to participate fully in American public and civic life.

African Americans exercised the franchise and held office in many Southern states through the 1880s, but in the early 1890s, steps were taken to ensure subsequent "white supremacy." Literacy tests for the vote, "grandfather clauses" excluding from the franchise all whose ancestors had not voted in the 1860s, and other devices to disfranchise African Americans were written into the constitutions of the former Confederate states. Social and economic segregation were added to black America's loss of political power. In 1896 the Supreme Court decision Plessy v. Ferguson legalized "separate but equal" facilities for the races. For more than 50 years, the overwhelming majority of African-American citizens were reduced to second-class citizenship under the "Jim Crow" segregation system. During that time African Americans sought to secure their rights and improve their position through organizations such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the National Urban League and through the individual efforts of reformers like Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. DuBois, and A. Philip Randolph.

Opposite: The 15th amend

ment, 1870. Freed by the

13th amendment and guaranteed citizenship by the 14th amendment, former slaves and free blacks were

ostensibly given the vote by the 15th amendment. In

actuality, however, it

marked only the beginning of a long struggle for equal

ity by black Americans. 154 by 21 3/4 inches.

World War II brought a new opportunity for advancement within the dominant white social structure. African Americans were drafted into the armed services and fought as effective soldiers to preserve Western democracy. In 1946 President Harry S. Truman established the Committee on Civil Rights, whose report "To Secure These Rights" led him in 1948 to deliver a ringing civil rights message to Congress. In July 1948 Truman's executive order to end segregation in the armed services began a historic change that would be completed by the early 1950s.

In 1954 the Supreme Court struck down the principle of "separate but equal" in the landmark decision Brown v. The Board of Education of Topeka. "In the field of public education," wrote Chief Justice Earl Warren, "the doctrine of 'separate but equal' has no place. Separate facilities are inherently unequal." The Court directed that schools should be desegregated "with all deliberate speed."

This initial victory for racial equality was actually only the beginning of a yet another new struggle. To implement the court's order, President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1957 dispatched federal troops and placed the Arkansas National Guard under federal command to desegregate Central High School in Little Rock, AR. Although many communities achieved school integration peaceably, those that resisted made headlines. While the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People worked through the federal courts to secure equal rights for African Americans, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, led by Martin Luther King, Jr., engaged in nonviolent demonstrations that reached a climax in the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

During this time, the Civil Rights Acts of 1957, 1960, 1964, 1965, and 1968 provided for broader protection of equality under the law for all races, nationalities, and religious groups. The 1964 act was amended by the 1972 Equal Employment Opportunity Act, the 1978 Pregnancy Discrimination Act, and the 1991 Civil Rights Act. The Civil Rights Commission, established by the 1957 act, investigates charges that the vote and equal protection of the law have been denied. The Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice prosecutes violations of the Civil Rights Acts; and

the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, established by the 1964 act, has responsibility for ensuring the government's policy of nondiscriminatory federal employment. In 1962 President John F. Kennedy issued an Executive order prohibiting racial or religious discrimination in federal housing, and in 1968, Congress barred discrimination in all housing in the Open Housing Act and the less-publicized National Housing Act.

The most direct attack on the problem of African-American disfranchisement came in 1965. Prompted by reports of continuing discriminatory voting practices in many Southern states, President Lyndon B. Johnson, himself a southerner, urged Congress on March 15, 1965, to pass legislation "which will make it impossible to thwart the Fifteenth Amendment." He reminded Congress that "we cannot have government for all the people until we first make certain it is government of and by all the people." The Voting Rights Act of 1965, extended in 1970, 1975, and 1982, abolished all remaining deterrents to exercising the franchise and authorized federal supervision of voter registration where necessary. "All men are created equal," wrote Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence. Transforming this concept into a reality for all citizens has been and continues to be one of the central challenges of our national existence.

The 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom was the culmination of 5 years of intense civil rights activity. A huge gathering heard the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., sound the keynote with his stirring "I have a dream" speech, delivered from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

inches.

IN THE

Supreme Court of the United States

BOARD OF EDUCATION OF TOPEKA, ET AL. No. 2

HARRY BRIGGS, JR., AL Appellants,

COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD OF PRINCE EDWARD COUNTY, VIRGINIA, ET AL Appellees.

No. 5

FRANCIS B. GEBHART, ET AL., Petitioners,

12

ETHEL LOUISE BELTON, AL, Respondrats.

APPEALS FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COUNTS FOR THE DISTRICT OF KANSAS. THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF SOUTH CAROLINA AND TER EASTERN DISTRICT OF VINIA, AND ON PETITION FOR A WHIT OF CENTIRAN TO THE SUPREME COURT OF DELAWARE, RESPECTEURLY

MEMORANDUM BRIEF FOR APPELLANTS IN NOS. 1, 2 AND 3 AND FOR RESPONDENTS IN NO. 5 ON FURTHER REARGUMENT WITH RESPECT TO THE EFFECT OF THE COURT'S DECREE

CHARLES L BLACK, JR.
ELWOOD H. CHISOLM,
WILLIAM T. COLEMAN, JR.
CHARLES T DUNCAN,
GEORGE E C. HAYES,
LOREN MILLER,
WILLIAM R. MING, JR.
CONSTANCE BAKER MOTLEY.
JAMES M. NABRIT, JR.
LOUIS H POLLAK,
FRANK D. REEVES,
JOHN SCOTT.
JACK B WEINSTEIN,
of Counsel.

HAROLD BOULWARE
ROBERT L CARTER
JACK GREENBERG
OLIVER W HILL
THURGOOD MARSHALL
LOUIS L REDDING,

SPOTTSWOOD W ROBINSON, III,
CHARLES S SCOTT.
Attorneys for Appeliants in Nos. 1,

2, 3 and for Respondents in No 5.