| Description |
1 online resource (1 video file, approximately 58 min.) |
| Contents |
Southern Schools: 1990s v. 1950s (1:05) -- Houston: The Man Who Killed Jim Crow (1:34) -- Slavery, Emancipation, & Constitutional Amendments (3:11) -- Plessy v. Ferguson (1:34) -- Separate But Equal (1:53) -- Jim Crow Violence (1:13) -- Charles Hamilton Houston: Early Life & Education (1:27) -- Houston's WWI Duty & Civil Rights Epiphany (2:08) -- Houston at Harvard Law (1:04) -- Houston as Dean of Howard University (1:33) -- Houston & NAACP (1:35) -- Houston's Long-Term Strategy (1:06) -- Houston's NAACP Documentary Project (0:57) -- First Victory: Murray v. Maryland (1:50) -- Second Victory: Equalization of Teachers' Salaries (3:39) -- Third Victory: Gaines v. Missouri (2:07) -- Houston's Work for Railroad Industry Integration (2:12) -- Work Ethic & Accomplishments (2:31) -- Houston's Death & Remembrance (1:17) -- Integration Victories Before Brown v. Board of Education (3:26) -- Brown v. Board of Education: Basis for Suit & Legal Teams (2:34) -- Brown v. Board of Education: Arguments & Trial (1:15) -- Brown v. Board of Education: Ruling & Civil Rights Victory (2:52) -- Boycott of Desegregation & KKK Terrorist Attacks (1:46) -- Civil Rights Movement (2:28) -- Civil Rights Act & Voting Rights Act (1:21) -- The Road Continues (2:57) -- Houston's Forecast for a Better Future (1:30) -- Credits: The Road to Brown (2:12) |
| Summary |
Presents the role of the Black lawyer, Charles Houston, in the landmark Supreme Court case of Brown vs. Board of Education which overturned segregation.The road to Brown tells the story of the Brown v. Board of Education ruling as the culmination of a brilliant legal assault on segregation that launched the Civil Rights movement. It is also a moving and long overdue tribute to a visionary but little known black lawyer, Charles Hamilton Houston, "the man who killed Jim Crow." The road to Brown plunges us into the nightmare world of Jim Crow that robbed former slaves of the rights granted by the 14th and 15th Amendments. Under the "separate but equal" doctrine of the Supreme Court's 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson decision, black citizens were denied the right to vote, to attend white schools, to get sick in white hospitals or to be buried in white cemeteries. Those who objected were liable to be lynched. Charles Houston, the first black editor of the Harvard Law Review, dean of Howard University Law School and chief counsel to the NAACP, launched a number of precedent-setting cases leading up to Brown v. Board of Education. He strategically targeted segregated education as the key to undermining the entire Jim Crow system. Interviews with his associates recount how Houston, eschewing the limelight himself, energized a generation of black jurists including future Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall to wage the struggle against segregation. He taught: "A lawyer is either a social engineer or he is a parasite on society." Houston died of a heart attack in 1950, just four years before the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision validated his strategy. In a moving climax, the film recapitulates the arguments before the Court, Justice Warren's opinion striking down Plessy, and the jubilant reactions of black America. Other legal victories followed. But Charles Houston had warned, There's a difference between law on the books and the law in action. We witness how it was the civil rights movement, organized in the wake of Brown, that gave teeth to the new laws. Moving from slavery to civil rights, The road to Brown provides a concise history of how African-Americans finally won full legal equality under the Constitution. Its depiction of the interplay between race, law and history adds a crucial dimension to courses in U.S. History, Black Studies, Constitutional Law, Law & Society, Social Movements and Government. It opens up a discussion of the true significance of the Brown v. Board decision on the path towards racial equality. The example of Charles Houston's persistence and determination will inspire today's students to take America further down the long road to social justice |
| Notes |
Title from title frames |
| Credits |
Camera, Brad Shapiro ; edited by Gary Weimberg, Yasha Aginsky |
| Performer |
Narrator: Steven Anthony Jones |
| Event |
Originally produced in 1990 |
| Notes |
In English with optional English captions for the deaf and hard of hearing |
| Subject |
Houston, Charles Hamilton, 1895-1950.
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Houston, Charles Hamilton, 1895-1950. |
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Discrimination in education -- Law and legislation -- United States
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Segregation in education -- Law and legislation -- United States
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African American lawyers -- Biography
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Lawyers -- United States -- Biography
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African Americans -- Civil rights -- United States
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Lawyers.
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African American lawyers.
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African Americans -- Civil rights.
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African Americans -- Legal status, laws, etc.
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African Americans -- Segregation.
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Civil rights workers.
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Constitutional history.
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Discrimination in education -- Law and legislation.
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Segregation in education -- Law and legislation.
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United States.
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| Genre/Form |
Educational films
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Internet videos
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Internet videos.
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Video recordings for the hearing impaired.
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Documentary films.
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Feature films.
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Historical films.
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Biographical films.
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Nonfiction films.
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Biographies.
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Biographical films.
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Historical films.
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Documentary films.
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Feature films.
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Nonfiction films.
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Video recordings for the hearing impaired.
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Internet videos.
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Documentaries and factual films and video.
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Films biographiques.
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Films historiques.
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Documentaires.
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Films autres que de fiction.
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Vidéos pour personnes handicapées auditives.
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Vidéos sur Internet.
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| Form |
Streaming video
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| Author |
Elwood, William A., film producer, screenwriter.
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Kulish, Mykola, film producer, film director, screenwriter.
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Adelman, Larry, screenwriter.
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Weimberg, Gary, screenwriter.
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Daressa, Lawrence, screenwriter.
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Jones, Steven A., narrator.
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University of Virginia.
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California Newsreel (Firm)
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