While “Brown” was a victory in the law and became a milestone in the history of the black civil rights movement, it did not immediately bring equal rights for ethnic minorities. After the Supreme Court ruling, enormous repercussions from conservative Southerners involved several Southern states publicly refused to comply with the Court’s decision and even insisted on continuing segregation policies. Therefore, the President at that time, President Eisenhower, decided firmly to send federal troops to escort blacks into the white school in order to maintain the dignity of the Federal Constitution.

 

The passages above present a review of the development of civil rights movement. However, for the United States to have civil rights today is not solely due to a gift from the law. The "Brown" case was not only a milestone in the Constitution, it showed the courage of the Court to face the public’s wrath in the interest of justice. Moreover, the Government took decisive action to protect the law and the American people in general adhered to law and order. Without the spirit to abide by the law and the tradition of rule of law, a temporary , unpopular decision might not have been accepted in a civilized manner by the people.  

 

The development of the black civil rights movement and its relation to us seems remote. However, it is in fact closely related. Foreigners who wish to immigrate to the United States probably know, according to the United States Immigration Law, if babies are born on American soil, they are automatically American citizens. This provision comes directly from the Fourteenth Amendment. Every year numerous people from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Southeast Asia and Mexico, come to the United States to do everything possible to have a child born in the United States for no other purpose but to obtain American citizenship for their children. From 1995 to 1996, the United States had an anti-immigration tide. The Republicans in Congress proposed to modify the Fourteenth Amendment to read, “Even if a baby is born in the United States, if his parents are not legal immigrants, the baby cannot become a Unites States citizens”. Of course, amending the Constitution is a serious matter, so the Republican’s proposal quickly vanished. Nevertheless it demonstrated Americans' resentment towards immigrants in recent years.

 

The law that allows citizenship through birth makes the United States quite a special place, but this was only made possible through the “Scott” case. It was because of the unjust ruling in the "Scott" case that, after the Civil War, the federal government passed the Fourteenth Amendment. This Amendment is closely related to the daily life of Americans and we shall discuss it more later on.

 

In the 1940s, although the United States law stated all citizens were equal, in practice discrimination was still very serious. Some white residential area owners, country clubs, colleges and public institutions still maintained discriminatory provisions. One of my real estate broker friends bought a house in a community. However, he found out that the community had rules and regulations from 1948 that only allowed whites to buy houses. In addition, aside from repairmen and other workers, non-whites were not allowed to enter the community. As a response to this information, my friend was very surprised and angry. Such regulations were found to be unconstitutional and banned in decision after decision by the Supreme Court in the 1960’s. American society has greatly reduced racial segregation and ethnic minorities have equal rights only after the 1960's. Therefore, I have said repeated that civil rights for immigrants have been achieved with great deal of effort, and should be cherished particularly by immigrants.