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The Brown vs Board of Education decision was a watershed moment in the history of the United States. Here’s why it happened.
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The Segregation of Schools
The Brown vs Board of Education was a landmark case in the United States that outlawed the segregation of schools. This case happened because of the color line that was drawn between white students and black students. The white students were given better resources and opportunities, while the black students were left behind. This case helped to level the playing field for black students and give them the same opportunities as white students.
The “separate but equal” doctrine
The “separate but equal” doctrine was a legal principle used to justify segregation. The U.S. Supreme Court first articulated the doctrine in the case of Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896, finding that as long as government-sponsored facilities for blacks and whites were equal in quality, segregation was constitutional.
The Court reaffirmed this principle in McCabe v. Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Co. (1915), Hogan v. Louisiana (1920), and Missouri ex rel. Gaines v. Canada (1938), despite evidence that blacks often received inferior treatment in segregated facilities. In each of these cases, the Court found that the challenged segregation laws did not violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment because they did not result in “unequal” treatment.
The “separate but equal” doctrine began to unravel in the 1940s, when the Court started to view segregation with suspicion and began to strike down laws mandating it. In Sweatt v. Painter (1950), for example, the Court invalidated a Texas law that required black students to attend a separate law school because the state had not provided them with an equivalent educational opportunity.
The Court finally abandoned the “separate but equal” doctrine altogether in its watershed decision in Brown v. Board of Education (1954). In Brown, the Court held that segregation of public schools based on race violated the Equal Protection Clause because it denied black children an education that was equal to that of white children
Plessy v. Ferguson
In Plessy v. Ferguson, the Supreme Court ruled that separated but equal facilities were constitutional. This case set the precedent for “separate but equal” treatment of races for the next 58 years. In 1954, the Supreme Court overturned Plessy v. Ferguson in Brown v. Board of Education, ruling that “separate but equal” education was unconstitutional.
The NAACP and Thurgood Marshall
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, or NAACP, was founded in 1909. The organization worked to end racial discrimination and segregation. Thurgood Marshall was a lawyer for the NAACP. He argued the case of Brown v. Board of Education in front of the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs in the case, which ultimately led to the end of segregation in public schools.
The NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded in 1909. The organization’s mission was “to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate racial hatred and racial discrimination.” One of the ways the NAACP worked to achieve these goals was through its Legal Defense Fund (LDF).
The LDF was founded in 1940 by Thurgood Marshall. Marshall, who would later become the first African American Supreme Court Justice, was a lawyer who had previously worked for the NAACP. The LDF was created to provide legal assistance to African Americans who were victims of discrimination.
The LDF’s most famous case was Brown v. Board of Education. This case challenged the legality of segregation in public schools. In 1954, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the NAACP and Marshall, declaring that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional.
The Brown v. Board of Education decision was a major victory for the NAACP and for civil rights advocates across the country. It helped to pave the way for future civil rights legislation and played a significant role in desegregating public schools across America.
Thurgood Marshall
Marshall was the chief architect of the legal strategy that led to the historic Brown v. Board of Education decision of 1954. He also argued 32 cases before the Supreme Court, winning 29 of them. In 1967, he became the first African American to serve on the Supreme Court.
The Brown Case
On May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in the case of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas that racial segregation in public education was unconstitutional. This ruling overturned the previous decision made in the case of Plessy v. Ferguson, which had stated that “separate but equal” facilities were constitutional. The Brown v. Board of Education ruling was a major victory for the Civil Rights Movement.
Oliver Brown et al. v. Board of Education of Topeka
In Oliver Brown et al. v. Board of Education of Topeka, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that racial segregation in public education violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The case was brought on behalf of Oliver Brown and his daughter, Linda, who sought admission to their local elementary school in Topeka, Kansas but were denied because of their race.
The Supreme Court’s decision overturned Plessy v. Ferguson, a case from 1896 that had established the “separate but equal” doctrine for public facilities like schools, transportation, and other services. The decision in Brown helped kick off the Civil Rights Movement, a major social movement that worked to end racial discrimination and segregation in the United States.
The Supreme Court’s Decision
The United States Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education (1954) was one of the most important moments in the history of American civil rights. The Court ruled that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional, opening the door for integration and an end to Jim Crow laws.
The case began in 1951 when a group of black parents in Topeka, Kansas filed a lawsuit against the local school district. The parents argued that their children were being discriminated against because they were forced to attend segregated schools. The case made its way to the Supreme Court, which heard arguments in December of 1952.
In May of 1954, the Court issued its ruling in Brown v. Board of Education. In a unanimous decision, the Court held that segregation in public schools violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The decision was a watershed moment in American history, paving the way for integration and equal opportunity for all Americans.
The Aftermath of Brown
In the 1950’s, the Plessy v. Ferguson case established the “separate but equal” doctrine, allowing for public facilities to be racially segregated as long as they were equal in quality. This opened the door for states to begin segregating schools, transportation, and other public services. In 1954, the Brown v. Board of Education case overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson decision, declaring that “separate but equal” was a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. This decision was a turning point in the Civil Rights Movement.
The Civil Rights Movement
The Civil Rights Movement was a mass popular movement to secure for African Americans equal access to and opportunities for the basic privileges and rights of U.S. citizenship. Although the roots of the movement go back to the 19th century, it peaked in the 1950s and 1960s. African American reformers formed organizations to achieve their goals and achieve recognition of their citizenship rights through judicial process and legislation, but they also took matters into their own hands by conducting sit-ins and marches, some of which turned violent, to publicize inequities and force change. The dramatic events and changes of this period not only changed American public opinion about racial segregation and discrimination but also had an enormous impact on race relations in other nations.
Desegregation of Schools
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas was issued on May 17, 1954. The Court’s unanimous (9-0) decision stated that it was unconstitutional for state laws to allow racial segregation in public schools.
The decision overturned the Court’s earlier ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), which had upheld the legality of “separate but equal” Jim Crow laws requiring racial segregation in all public facilities, including public education.
The opinion was written by Chief Justice Earl Warren and announced to a packed courtroom. In it, the Court stated that “separate but equal” education was inherently unequal and therefore unconstitutional. The Brown decision led to the desegregation of public schools across America and stands as one of the most important milestones in the history of the American civil rights movement.
