Gemini Rising

50 State Blog Tour - Heart of Civil Rights - Kansas

Kansas is another heartland state. Our first stop today was the Monroe Elementary School, which was involved in the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court case in 1954. Prior to then, the law of the land was “Plessy v. Ferguson,” which called for separate but equal sites and facilities. The Supreme Court, in a 9-0 vote, did away with Plessy v. Ferguson. All children, regardless of their color, could attend their local schools. Honestly, it was a very sober visit.

Brown v. Board of Education was a BIG win for Civil Rights. Nowadays, the school is part of the National Park System. In my experiences in life, I have not seen segregation like this, and in the type of environment I grew up, I would definitely call it out. I believe the country has made a lot of progress in regards to equality, (I’ve seen that in my own work environment) but there are some places where progress needs a push, and that’s sad.

A Warped Witch I Be , WakeUpAndLive~gummy worms BOO , Morticia Wednesday Megan Rose , Mordecai Grimsly 🦇🧟 , AmyJo-Zombie hours , Maid of the Mist Most Macabre , Spooky Kooky Krista , Reluctant Halloweenist , and I got back on the Party Bus and remained quiet, silently reflecting, and quietly contemplating what we saw. No one was really in the mood to visit our next place, the Air Combat museum, but we took a go at it. Morticia Wednesday Megan Rose shared her memories about her father who flew C-130’s. Some of us tried the airplane simulators, and slowly, the smiles started to come out again.

WakeUpAndLive~gummy worms BOO skimmed her phone and said, “The Eisenhower Presidential museum isn’t that far away.” Morticia Wednesday Megan Rose wanted to go. She liked Ike. I was game. Off we went. Maid of the Mist Most Macabre drove the Party Bus over to the museum.

The museum is very similar to how the Ronald Regan museum was set up in Simi Valley. School de-segregation was important to Ike. He was a firm believer in Civil Rights and helped to de-segregate schools during his presidency.