The film, "Separate But Equal," follows the true story of the NAACP court challenge of racial school segregation. This was the struggle that would destroy the legal validity of racial segregation in general and prove to be the start of the first major victory of the Civil Rights movement. "Separate But Equal" is an excellent movie depicting the tragedy of the time of racial segregation in schools and the steps in which these men from the NAACP took to correct it.
The constitutional question at issue in this movie is this: Is segregation by race in public schools legal? Today we know it is not legal, but in this movie, this is the point the NAACP sets out to prove. In amendment fourteen, section one, the equal protection clause states that no state shall deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. The point to be proven here is that a child cannot be considered to be treated equal as long as the child is kept separate from children of another race. Separate schools cause continuing deprivation and harm to Negro children and should be discontinued. This was the point that Thurgood Marshall set out to prove in this trial.
Harry Briggs Jr. is a black child in a school in Clarendon County, South Carolina, whose teacher notices that he is falling asleep in class. Whenever his teacher investigates the cause of his tiredness he discovers that Harry has to walk many miles to and from school everyday. The teacher sees that white children that live far away from their schools are provided with buses while the black children are not; he decides to protest the issue. His request for an old bus is denied because the superintendent says that whites pay more taxes and are therefore entitled to better facilities. This was the beginning of one of the most famous and important trials in history.
Thurgood Marshall, a highly qualified attorney for the NAACP, is sent to help the people of Clarendon County.
