Brown v. Board of Education at Fifty A Rhetorical Retrospective

by Rountree, Clarke; Burnette, Ann E.; Droge, David; Gill, Ann M.; Hasian, Marouf, Jr.; Mangis, Daniel

• ISBN13: 9780739114599
• ISBN10: 073911459X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-10-11
• Publisher: Lexington Books

Summary

This collection of persuasive scholarly essays examines, for the first time, the role rhetorical theory played in the development of educational segregation. Contributors consider the NAACPs development of a series of graduate school cases to challenge Plessy, analyze the Brown decision itself, assess the state response to Brown, and critique the two Supreme Court decisions implementing the Brown decision. By illustrating how rhetorical strategies created, sustained, challenged, and, ultimately, reversed educational segregation in the United States, this work demonstrates the real value of the rhetorical perspective and provides encouragement to those who wish to help further develop this emerging field of judicial rhetoric.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. ix
Introduction	p. xi
Revisiting the Case of Plessy v. Ferguson	p. 1
Dissent as Prophecy: Justice John Marshall Harlan's Dissent in Plessy v. Ferguson as the Religious Rhetoric of Law	p. 23
Setting the Stage for Brown v. Board of Education: The NAACP's Litigation Campaign against the "Separate but Equal" Doctrine	p. 49
From Natural to Cultural Inferiority: The Symbolic Reconstruction of White Supremacy in Brown v. Board of Education	p. 91
The Rhetoric of Virginia's Massive Resistance Movement	p. 119
The Supreme Court's Rhetoric of Legitimization	p. 143
Works Cited	p. 171
Cases Cited	p. 187
Index	p. 189
About the Contributors	p. 199
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