Separate but Equal was a very great story about the African-American struggle for Civil Rights. The movie is described in depth in the next following paragraphs:

The blacks and the whites went to segregated schools in South Carolina, because segregation was in the South Carolina Constitution. They could use this because they stated that the schools were �separate but equal�. This turned out not to be the case. The schools were separate, but not at all equal. A little colored boy was forced to walk several miles home because the school board of Clarendon County had no money in their budget to pay for a bus for the black school. But, the white school had over 40 buses, which clearly proves that they were being discriminated against.

Thurgood Marshall, a man from the NAACP, came to try to help the black people get a bus. He started a petition and fought for equal rights in Clarendon County. This was when the problem turned into much more than a wanted bus. It was now for desegregation of schools. The blacks, with the NAACP leading, would take this to court.

The black people started losing their jobs, and the KKK started to threaten them. The white people were doing everything in their power to make the black people feel inferior and to punish them for going against the whites. The superintendent of Clarendon County schools even took away the Rev. DeLane�s principal job.

The case first went to a federal court in Charleston, SC. The judge told Thurgood Marshall that it will have to be sent to a 3-judge court, because the case involved more than one judge�s opinion.

The NAACP arranged for Kenneth Clark, a child psychologist, to test the colored children to see if being in segregated schools has affected their minds. Clearly it showed the blacks were damaged and felt inferior to the whites. They showed this in the 3-judge court. It looked like things were going well for the blacks, but then something terrible happened. The KKK burned a cross in front of a judge�s home. This scared the judge, and he voted against the blacks. Segregation was still legal in South Carolina.

Thurgood Marshall and the NAACP went back to New York enraged. They appealed the case and got it sent to the Supreme Court. At this time, Buster (Thurgood�s wife) told Thurgood that she had cancer. Another terrible thing happened. A black man�s house started burning, and the fire department wouldn�t put out the fire, because the county line ended at his driveway. Things were getting worse in SC, and Thurgood Marshall knew that this case had to go to the Supreme Court. The Governor of SC hired a well-known lawyer, John Davis, to represent SC at court.

The NAACP was very busy writing briefs and making their case for the Supreme Court. On Dec. 9, 1952, they finally got the chance to state their case in Washington. The Supreme Court Justices were torn. Some were with SC, and some with the NAACP. They had problems coming to a conclusion, so they asked them to come testify and state their case again.

By this time, the NAACP was having trouble with their funding. They were in need of money and help. Buster even sold her watch to help. Professor Black came to help with the case.

The Chief Justice died suddenly before the case was heard again, and Earl Warren was chosen as the new Chief Justice.

The NAACP worked very diligently on the case. Mr. Kelly, an historian, came up with important information that would help the blacks greatly. The Congress has the power to desegregate things if the people are being treated unfairly.

On Dec. 7, 1953, a re-argument took place. After the case, the Chief Justice went to Gettysburg. While he was there, the black man who was with him had to sleep in the car because no hotel would take in colored people. I believe this is what made Chief Justice Warren decide that they needed to desegregate the schools. He went back to Washington, D.C., and started talking each Justice into voting to desegregate. A unanimous decision would make the decision look better, and Chief Justice Warren wanted the court to be united. He had a hard time with one of the justices, but managed to get him to agree with the majority.

The Supreme Court called the Plaintiffs into the courtroom. Everyone raced to Washington to hear the decision. The court decided unanimously for SC to desegregate.

The movie went on to tell us that in 1967 Thurgood Marshall became an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. Also, Buster died a year after the Supreme Court decision because of cancer.

I thought this movie was a very powerful one, and it showed me a lot of things I didn�t know about. I didn�t know exactly how the blacks were treated in years back, but now that I know, I can see why this was such a milestone in history. I enjoyed the movie and learned a lot from it. Thurgood Marshall was a very intelligent man, and I�m sure he was a great Supreme Court Justice. I would love to watch this movie again. I definitely think it should be shown to all the other classes!