Brown vs. Board of Education

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Brown vs. Board of Education

• By Walter Dean Myers

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About the Author

• raised in Harlem by his foster parents
• developed a love of reading and writing at an
  early age
• used writing to overcome serious speech problems
  and painful shyness

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Author info continued

• served in the US Army
• worked for
• the New York State Department of Labor
• the US Post Office
• a rehabilitation center

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• Career as an author began in 1969 when he entered
  a contest for minority writers and won a 500
  prize
• Encouraged by Langston Hughes to write poetry

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Inspiration for Story

• Myers has always been interested in and concerned
  by the injustices suffered by African Americans.

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Background

• Several laws were passed after the Civil War to
  protect the civil rights of African Americans.
• These laws were often disregarded.
• 1896 Plessy vs. Ferguson case upheld the separate
  but equal law.
• Ruling applied to hotels, restaurants, schools,
  transportation

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Brown vs. Board of Education

• In 1954 segregation in public schools was
  declared unconstitutional.

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Informative Essay

• A short nonfiction piece that gives information
  about a topic.
• Includes details, facts, examples
• May include writers point of view or opinion