Brown v. Board of Education:
In the 1950s, African Americans challenged the “separate but equal” principle that supported segregation in public schools.
Background of the Case
In 1950 in Topeka, Kansas, Oliver Brown wanted to send his eight–year–old daughter to a nearby elementary school. Because of segregation laws, Linda Brown could not go to that school. That school was for white students only. Linda was African American. Instead, she had to attend school farther from home. Since the late 1800s, courts had seen segregation as lawful as long as blacks and whites were treated equally. Brown and some other African American parents challenged this idea of “separate but equal.” With the help of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), a civil rights group, they sued Topeka’s board of education.
On May 17, 1954 the United States Supreme Court handed down its ruling in the landmark case of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. The Court’s unanimous decision overturned provisions of the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson decision, which had allowed for “separate but equal” public facilities, including public schools in the United States. Declaring that “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal,” the Brown v. Board decision helped break the back of state-sponsored segregation, and provided a spark to the American civil rights movement.
This unanimous decision handed down by the Supreme Court on May 17, 1954, ended federal tolerance of racial segregation. In Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) the Court had ruled that “separate but equal” accommodations on railroad cars conformed to the Fourteenth Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection. That decision was used to justify segregating all public facilities, including schools. In addition, most school districts, ignoring Plessy’s “equal” requirement, neglected their black schools.
Did You Know?
NAACP chief counsel Thurgood Marshall argued the case of Brown v. Board of Education before the Supreme Court for the plaintiffs. Marshall was himself named to the Court in 1967.
In the mid-1930s, however, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) challenged school segregation in a series of court cases. In these the Court required “tangible” aspects of segregated schools to be equivalent. The rulings prompted several school districts to improve their black students’ schools. Then the naacp contested the constitutionality of segregation in four regions. Each of the school districts involved had improved the tangible aspects of its black schools, but Brown brought segregation, per se, squarely before the Court. In the unanimous decision Chief Justice Earl Warren rejected the Plessy doctrine, declaring that “separate educational facilities” were “inherently unequal” because the intangible inequalities of segregation deprived black students of equal protection under the law. A year later, the Court published implementation guidelines requiring federal district courts to supervise school desegregation “on a racially nondiscriminatory basis with all deliberate speed.”
Why It Matters
The Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas applied only to segregation in schools. Even so, it struck down the concept at the core of segregation laws that applied in other areas: separate but equal. The road to actual desegregation was long and hard. The Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas decision, however, is widely seen as the first step along the path to full desegregation.
References:
The Reader’s Companion to American History. Eric Foner and John A. Garraty, Editors. Copyright © 1991 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/brown-v-board-of-education-of-topeka
http://connected.mcgraw-hill.com/ssh/book.lesson.do?bookId=3J7V8K9GB4R65JHYST6WNK6EEE&nodeId=LXV1K34LD7MKYC758JQTFGSX28&edition=STUDENT
In 1950 in Topeka, Kansas, Oliver Brown wanted to send his eight–year–old daughter to a nearby elementary school. Because of segregation laws, Linda Brown could not go to that school. That school was for white students only. Linda was African American. Instead, she had to attend school farther from home. Since the late 1800s, courts had seen segregation as lawful as long as blacks and whites were treated equally. Brown and some other African American parents challenged this idea of “separate but equal.” With the help of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), a civil rights group, they sued Topeka’s board of education.
On May 17, 1954 the United States Supreme Court handed down its ruling in the landmark case of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. The Court’s unanimous decision overturned provisions of the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson decision, which had allowed for “separate but equal” public facilities, including public schools in the United States. Declaring that “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal,” the Brown v. Board decision helped break the back of state-sponsored segregation, and provided a spark to the American civil rights movement.
This unanimous decision handed down by the Supreme Court on May 17, 1954, ended federal tolerance of racial segregation. In Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) the Court had ruled that “separate but equal” accommodations on railroad cars conformed to the Fourteenth Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection. That decision was used to justify segregating all public facilities, including schools. In addition, most school districts, ignoring Plessy’s “equal” requirement, neglected their black schools.
Did You Know?
NAACP chief counsel Thurgood Marshall argued the case of Brown v. Board of Education before the Supreme Court for the plaintiffs. Marshall was himself named to the Court in 1967.
In the mid-1930s, however, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) challenged school segregation in a series of court cases. In these the Court required “tangible” aspects of segregated schools to be equivalent. The rulings prompted several school districts to improve their black students’ schools. Then the naacp contested the constitutionality of segregation in four regions. Each of the school districts involved had improved the tangible aspects of its black schools, but Brown brought segregation, per se, squarely before the Court. In the unanimous decision Chief Justice Earl Warren rejected the Plessy doctrine, declaring that “separate educational facilities” were “inherently unequal” because the intangible inequalities of segregation deprived black students of equal protection under the law. A year later, the Court published implementation guidelines requiring federal district courts to supervise school desegregation “on a racially nondiscriminatory basis with all deliberate speed.”
Why It Matters
The Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas applied only to segregation in schools. Even so, it struck down the concept at the core of segregation laws that applied in other areas: separate but equal. The road to actual desegregation was long and hard. The Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas decision, however, is widely seen as the first step along the path to full desegregation.
References:
The Reader’s Companion to American History. Eric Foner and John A. Garraty, Editors. Copyright © 1991 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/brown-v-board-of-education-of-topeka
http://connected.mcgraw-hill.com/ssh/book.lesson.do?bookId=3J7V8K9GB4R65JHYST6WNK6EEE&nodeId=LXV1K34LD7MKYC758JQTFGSX28&edition=STUDENT