Brown Vs.

The
Board of
Education of
Topeka
 The Facts of the Case

1954 - One of the most influential Supreme Court Decisions

 The background - Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

Plessy was arrested in Louisiana for refusing to sit in a Negro train car
Challenged the decision contending that the Louisiana law separating
blacks from whites on trains violated the "equal protection clause" of the
14th Amendment
Determination was made that having separate but equal areas was fine
because the Constitution doesnt state there is a superior, dominant, ruling
class
The outcome made racially segregated schools legal; segregated public
facilities were constitutional so long as the black and white facilities were
equal to each other.
 What the Constitution States
13th Amendment
Put an end to slavery
Did not apply to Plessy because it
did not tend to destroy the legal
equality of the two races or
reestablish a state of involuntary
servitude
14th Amendment
States no state shall deprive
anyone of either "due process of
law" or of the "equal protection of
the law."
Did not violate because the
legislature was at liberty to act
with reference to established
usages, customs, and traditions of
the people, with the review to
preserve public peace and good
order
Kansas
Some public schools are non-
segregated but not all.
District court found
What was Brown?
segregation had a detrimental
effect on Negro children
Denied relief; schools were
equal in tangibles.
South Carolina
Elementary and high school
students claimed schools were not
equal.
Court found they were inferior and
immediately ordered to equalize
facilities
Did not allow plaintiffs admission
to white schools during
equalization
Virginia
High schools students claimed
schools werent equal in
physical plant, curricula, and
By consolidation transportation.
opinion, the court
Won case but werent admitted
reviewed 4 state to white schools during
cases in which African equalization.
American minors
sought admission to
Delaware
the public schools of Elementary and high school
their community on a students claimed negro schools
nonsegregated basis.
were inferior in teacher training,
pupil-teacher ratio, physical
plant, extracurricular activities,
and transportation
Granted immediate admission to
white schools.
 Other Key Facts
Thurgood Marshall was chief counsel for the plaintiffs
Considered the effect of segregation on public education
Psychological studies showing black girls in segregated schools had low
racial self-esteem
The Court concluded that separating children on the basis of race creates
dangerous inferiority complexes that may adversely affect black children's
ability to learn
Even if the tangible facilities were equal between the black and white
schools, racial segregation in schools is "inherently unequal" and is thus
always unconstitutional
The Outcome
Racial segregation of
children in public
schools violated the
Equal Protection
Clause of the
Fourteenth
Amendment.
A picture is worth a thousand words
 1896
Plessy v. Ferguson; Louisiana's "separate but equal" law deemed constitutional
providing legal justification for Jim Crow laws in southern states.
1940
30% of Americans 40% of Northerners and 2% of Southerners believe Whites
and Blacks should attend the same schools.
1952-1954
The Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education overturns Plessy and declares that
separate schools are "inherently unequal."

1955-1960
In Brown II, the Supreme Court orders lower federal courts to require desegregation
"with all deliberate speed." Federal judges hold more than 200 desegregation hearings.

1956
49% of Americans 61% of Northerners and 15% of Southerners believe Whites and
Blacks should attend the same schools.
 1960
Federal marshals shielded Ruby Bridges, Gail St. Etienne, Leona Tate and Tessie
Prevost from angry crowds as they enrolled in school.
1963
62% of Americans 73% of Northerners and 31% of Southerners believe Blacks
and Whites should attend the same schools.
1969
Supreme Court declares the "all deliberate speed" standard is no longer constitutionally
permissible and orders immediate desegregation of Mississippi schools.
1991
Supreme Court makes it easier for formerly segregated school systems to fulfill
obligations under desegregation decrees because court orders are not intended "to
operate in perpetuity."
2003
Harvard's Civil Rights Project study finds schools were more segregated in 2000 than in
1970 when busing for desegregation began.
 The Lasting Effect

How Brown v. The Board of Education changed Public Schools

forever...