As an historian, you want to understand the past better than most people. You're not interested in stereotypes and sound bites, but the details and human decisions that create history.

Specifically, you want to understand the ideas and important concepts that people argued over in the past. When looking at issues of racial segregation, this is important because concepts argued about in the past still guide decisions today.

Because you will understand the details that make up a concept or idea, you will be in a good position to know when others don't really understand what they are talking about. You will be able to help them fill in the gaps of their knowledge. Think of this as you helping them understand the definition of a new word, law in science, or rule in math.

If you can present the history of key U.S. Supreme Court decisions, then you can help your group understand the terms people have been arguing about ever since. So crack the books, click the Net, and switch on your brain.

1. Read the Web pages linked below. If you print out the files, underline the passages that you feel are the most important. If you look at the pages on the computer, copy sections you feel are important by dragging the mouse across the passage and copying / pasting it into a word processor or other writing software.

2. Note: Remember to write down or copy/paste the URL of the file you take the passage from so you can quickly go back to it if you need to to prove your point.

3. Be prepared to focus what you've learned into an explanation answering:

   What makes separate inherently unequal? According to the U.S. Supreme Court, what are the critical attributes of a fair and equal education?

   As with all historians, you will have to read between the lines to come to your interpretation.

Internet Resources

Use the Internet information linked below and these questions to understand the concepts behind U.S. Supreme Court decisions regarding desegregation.

1. What old idea ruled from the time of Plessy v. Ferguson?
2. What was the new phrase that came out of Brown v. the Board of Education?
3. Who argued the case for Brown and what became of him?
4. Summarize the most important ideas of the case in a cluster or mind map.

• Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka - Abstract
• Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka - Opinion
• Brown v. Board of Education II - Abstract
• Brown v. Board of Education II - Opinion
• Brown v. Board of Education Background from PBS
• Brown v. Board of Education - Easier Background

Go to the Concept Development scaffold page to sharpen your ideas.