H.Res. 176 (ih) Recognizing the historical significance of the Supreme Court's unanimous decision in Brown v. Board of Education, repudiating segregation, and reaffirming the fundamental belief that we are all ``one Nation under God, indivisible.'' [Intro...

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H. Res. 176

                 In the House of Representatives, U.S.,

                                                          May 18, 1999.
Whereas in 1951 Linda Brown was a third-grader and an African-American who was 
        forced to endure hardships such as walking a mile through a railroad 
        switchyard to get to her black elementary school, even though a white 
        elementary school was only 7 blocks away;
Whereas the Reverend Oliver Brown, Linda Brown's father, was turned away when he 
        tried to register his daughter at the nearby white school, simply 
        because the little girl was black;
Whereas Thurgood Marshall, special counsel for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and 
        a protege of Howard University Law Professor Charles Houston, 
        successfully argued that the ``separate but equal'' doctrine, 
        established by the Supreme Court in its Plessy v. Ferguson decision in 
        1896, was unconstitutional;
Whereas Chief Justice Earl Warren read aloud, from the Court's unanimous 
        decision: ``We come then to the question presented: Does segregation of 
        children in public schools solely on the basis of race, even though the 
        physical facilities and other `tangible' factors may be equal, deprive 
        the children of the minority group of equal educational opportunities? 
        We believe that it does * * *. We conclude that in the field of public 
        education the doctrine of `separate but equal' has no place. Separate 
        educational facilities are inherently unequal. Therefore, we hold that 
        the plaintiffs and others similarly situated for whom the actions have 
        been brought are, by reason of the segregation complained of, deprived 
        of the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the Fourteenth 
        Amendment'';
Whereas the Brown v. Board of Education decision struck a pivotal blow against 
        Jim Crow laws, as well as the dark forces of racism and segregation; and
Whereas the interaction of students of all races promotes better understanding 
        and the acceptance of racial differences: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) recognizes the historical significance of the Supreme Court's 
        unanimous decision in Brown v. Board of Education;
            (2) heralds this watershed in our shared history as a significant 
        advancement of the most basic American principles of freedom, justice, 
        and equality under the law; and
            (3) repudiates racial segregation as antithetical to the noble 
        ideals upon which this great Nation was founded, and reaffirms the 
        fundamental belief that we are all ``one Nation under God, 
        indivisible.''.
            Attest:

                                                                          Clerk.

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