Identifying Argument in Case Assignment
The High Supreme Court's conclusion about the Brown versus Board of Education case is the
direct outcome of its categorical syllogism, namely a major premise, a minor premise, and a
logical conclusion that neatly bound the thoughts of the judges. Spotting and interpreting these
ingredients are necessary to comprehend the court's reasoning and the far-reaching consequences
of their judgments.
The struggle was held by the black parents from the various states of Brown v. Board of
Education to have a right for their children to be able to study in a school where white children
could also go. The lawsuit, which started in Topeka, Kansas, made it all the way to the US
Supreme Court. The issue of African American children's right to be admitted to the same
schools as whites was being litigated in four states. Thus, it was then taken to the Supreme Court
after these courts were not in favor of it. Relying on the verdict of an earlier Supreme Court case
(Plessy v. Ferguson) which proposed that children be treated equally if the schools give them the
same facilities, there was a precedent for this kind of case.
The litigants in Plessy vs. Ferguson's case contended that segregation was not fair as the
education offered was different in both places (Cornell Law School, n.d.). According to the
Supreme Court ruling in this case, if the educational services were equal, then the practice of
segregation would be legal. The plaintiffs in the Brown vs. Board of Education case contested
that African American children would feel inferior to white children if they sat in a separate
facility, which would, in turn, be a mental issue to them. They argued that it would have a
psychological impact on children, which would affect the children's 14th Amendment rights.
“The 14th amendment says no state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the
privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States” (U.S. Const. Amendment XIV.). On the
strength of this phenomenon and the Fourteenth Amendment, the Supreme Court then overruled
Plessy vs. Ferguson and held the segregation unlawful.
A categorical syllogism consists of three items: A major premise, a minor premise, and
the conclusion (Rice, 2017). The Court's major premise derives from the principle of the Equal
Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, which demands states not to deny the equal
protection of laws any person within their respective districts. This fundamental principle was
the foundation upon which the broad ultimate way of segregation in public schooling was the
only reason for the denial of the minority's rights.
Concretely, the Court articulated that segregated public schools were the focal point of
the minor premise. The Court confirmed that tangibles such as buildings, curricula, and teacher
qualifications may be equal, but these separations by race, which in simple terms do
equalization, are rendered void, and thus create a profound psychological set of issues, not to
mention social interactions that are detrimental to the education and personal development of
African American students. This acceptance of situational discrimination and the psychological
imbalances that come with it was the centering focus of the minor premise.
The judiciary, in its sensible process of development initially established, exists under the
principle of equal rights under the law, paving the way for a subsequent discussion of the
concrete problem under examination. As a watered-down interpretation of the major premise,
which speaks about the adverse effects of racial segregation in education, the minor premise
came second and in turn gained prominence as a logical derivation of the constitutional umbrella
of equal rights. Thus, did they conclude that the Court could create a well-thought-out line of
reasoning after dealing with the basic rights mentioned in the Fourteenth Amendment, with that
principle of equality of all persons before the most significant separation in a public school
system being reserved for the last.
The judgment was not made in haste. African American people did not get an equal legal
defense for several years. It is logical to look at how black people in the US turned from a mere
piece of property into full citizens with full rights. Even though I believe this could have
happened sooner and with a different viewpoint right from the outset, I still realize that it
involves a certain development that affects people of varying generations. At the outset, the
rights of African Americans were meager, and they were not attended with large scale
accomplishments, which led to the later gain of more and increased victories. Consequently, this
decision was sound, and the process made sense.
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