WHEREAS, May 17, 2004, marks the fifty-year anniversary of the Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka; and
     WHEREAS, The Supreme Court ruled against the Topeka Board of Education declaring that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal" and violate the equal protection clause under the Fourteenth Amendment. In so doing, the court decision overturned the precedent determined in 1896 by Plessy v. Ferguson; and
     WHEREAS, Linda Brown, a young African-American student, was forced to ride a bus five miles to school when there was an adequate facility only four blocks from her home; and
     WHEREAS, Brown v. Board of Education aimed to prohibit federally sanctioned racial segregation in public schools; and
     WHEREAS, Thurgood Marshall, the lead attorney for Brown, fought for equality for African-American school children; and
     WHEREAS, He believed segregation "generates a feeling of inferiority as to their status in the community that may affect their hearts and minds in a way unlikely to ever be undone"; and
     WHEREAS, Since May 17, 1954, the citizens of the United States of America have broken down the barriers of segregation in educational facilities, and while there are still inequalities in the distribution of educational resources, we must continue to seek equal opportunities for all of our children;
     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, That the Senate, on behalf of the people of our state, does, in recognition of the Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education, remember the significance of integrated schools where children of all backgrounds can learn with and from each other in an interracial and multicultural community; and
     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That we honor the people who suffered from the injustice of segregation and the people who were dedicated to fairness, equality, and the integration of all educational facilities; and
     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a copy of this resolution be immediately transmitted by the Secretary of the Senate to the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction.