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One of the most historically significant civil court cases of the last century, Swann v. Charlotte Mecklenburg Board of Education made remarkable progress in the African American Civil Rights Movement and the desegregation of public schools in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. The primary dilemma was this: Negro and White students were segregated within the school system, for out of 84,000 students in the 1968-1969 school year, 14,000 negro students attended inner-city schools that were at least 99% African American, while White students attended more affluent suburban schools. Fifteen years after the Supreme Court decision of Brown v. Board of Education, Swann v. CMBOE was ruled based upon a precedent - that segregation among schools was illegal within the United States, declared "unconstitutional" by Chief Justice Warren within the Brown case years earlier.
Aaron Lucander
http://www.oyez.org/cases/1970-1979/1970/1970_281
http://www.northcarolinahistory.org/encyclopedia/296/entry/
http://www.4lawnotes.com/constitutional-law-case-briefs/487-swann-v-charlotte-mecklenburg-board-education.html
http://www.casebriefs.com/blog/law/constitutional-law/constitutional-law-keyed-to-chemerinsky/equal-protection/swann-v-charlotte-mecklenburg-board-of-education/
http://www.enotes.com/swann-v-charlotte-mecklenburg-board-education-reference/swann-v-charlotte-mecklenburg-board-education
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/973269/Swann-v-Charlotte-Mecklenburg-Board-of-Education
https://lcrm.lib.unc.edu/blog/index.php/2012/04/20/remembering-swann-v-charlotte-mecklenburg-board-of-education/
Here is a more detailed description of the problem presented on the last slide:
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg School System contained:
- 84, 000 total students
- 21, 000 Negro students
- 63, 000 White students
Of the total 21, 000 Negro Students:
- 14, 000 attended schools at least 99% populated by Negro students.
- 7, 000 attended varying other schools throughout the county.
There was a notable difference in the levels of technology and prominence among the White and Black schools of the CMS system - White schools had much more wealth, and thus contained students and faculty capable of achieving much higher standards than those within the Black schools.
Of all the events within the African American Civil Rights Movement of the 20th Century, Swann v. CMBOE was one of the most notable, providing the basis on which other cases and ideals could thrive. This court case not only proved that African Americans could stand up against racial discrimination, but also that they were capable of producing lasting effects in the social desegregation and ethnic equality of our nation. As well, this lawsuit introduced the government to the fact that desegregation among schools within the United States was not occurring as it should have been since the ruling of Brown vs. BOE in 1954; the concepts of busing and racial quotas are still used in the ethnic integration of schools across the nation!
On April 20, 1971, the Supreme Court ruled that busing, the gerrymandering of school zones, the use of mathematical ratios, and quotas were all viable methods in the integration of Black and White students within schools of the CMS system. As a result, students were:
- Bused from their Home Schools to New Schools as part of desegregation.
- Transferred between schools due to the gerrymandering of school zones, or the forced change in boundaries that made students switch schools.
The government also monitored the ratios of White and Negro students in each school of the CMS system to ensure that their mandate was being properly executed(29 out of every 100 students in each school had to be black); as well, the school district was responsible for meeting a quota in the number of students integrated per unit time.
Some significant participants within this court case are as follows:
- Chief Justice Warren Burger
- Plaintiff NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People)
- Defendant Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education
- The Judical Branch (Supreme Court)
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system had previously made desegregation efforts in 1965, when they redrew school attendance zones and allowed students to choose which schools they wished to attend. As well, the system was busing over 30,000 students between schools on a daily basis. The CMS system argued that they were already desegregating the schools within their system, thus opposing the NAACP in this case.
The NAACP sued the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education on behalf of James E. Swann and other negro students in Mecklenburg County. They believed that the school system was violating their rights of citizenship granted within the 14th Amendment - including their abilities to attend any public school or have public transportation to the local school of their choice. The NAACP was primarily concerned with the racial integration of Elementary School students, for they were the basis of this entire case(the most notable example being James E. Swann).