LAD #39: Brown v. Board of Education
Summarize:
The landmark Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka was a 1954 Supreme Court case that marked the start of the Civil Rights Movement. The judges unanimously ruled that segregation within public schools was unconstitutional. As opposed to the earlier court case of Plessy v. Ferguson, this case set the precedent that "separate but equal" was often not equal and, therefore, unconstitutional. In 1896, the Supreme Court had ruled that segregation was an acceptable practice, as long as it was equal. In Plessy v. Ferguson, the court established that laws barring African Americans from buses, schools, and other public facilities (Jim Crow laws) were legal. These laws continued to occur throughout the following six decades. In fact, it was not until the 1950s that this precedent was challenged. The NAACP, or the National Association of the Advancement of Colored People, worked hard to abolish the laws that segregated public schools. In Topeka, Kansas, Oliver Brown filed a lawsuit against the Board of Education when his daughter, Linda Brown, was denied entry into a public school. Brown claimed that the segregated African American school was inferior to the all-white school and the 14th Amendment gave all American citizens equal protection. The newly appointed Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren went against his predecessor's belief that the Plessy decision should stand and engineered a unanimous verdict in favor of the NAACP. The head of defense for the NAACP was Thurgood Marshall, who would later be appointed as the first African American Justice by President Lyndon B. Johnson. Warren claimed that segregated schools were inherently unequal and, therefore, separate but equal directly went against the 14th Amendment. This verdict opened the door for desegregation throughout America, but many local jurisdictions denied the verdict. For example, in Little Rock, Arkansas, the Governor called the state national guard to prevent black students from being integrated into an all-white school. These students became known as the Little Rock Nine and President Eisenhower eventually sent the national guard to protect the students and escort them to school. This proved that the federal government was willing to uphold its decision to equalize public education. The Brown v. Board of Education verdict fueled the Civil Rights Movement and led to many additional legislatures being passed in order to provide equal rights for all American citizens. Other acts included Rosa Parks refusal to remain in segregated bus seats and the consequent Montgomery Bus boycott, many sit-ins and other protests led by Martin Luther King Jr., the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the Fair Housing Act of 1968, and the Runyon v. McCrary court case that ruled that even private schools were prohibited from denying admission based on race.
Synthesis:
In 1968, the Runyon v. McCrary court case challenged that even in private schools, admission must be equally open to all races. This meant that schools who denied admittance on account of race would be violating the verdict of this case.
The landmark Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka was a 1954 Supreme Court case that marked the start of the Civil Rights Movement. The judges unanimously ruled that segregation within public schools was unconstitutional. As opposed to the earlier court case of Plessy v. Ferguson, this case set the precedent that "separate but equal" was often not equal and, therefore, unconstitutional. In 1896, the Supreme Court had ruled that segregation was an acceptable practice, as long as it was equal. In Plessy v. Ferguson, the court established that laws barring African Americans from buses, schools, and other public facilities (Jim Crow laws) were legal. These laws continued to occur throughout the following six decades. In fact, it was not until the 1950s that this precedent was challenged. The NAACP, or the National Association of the Advancement of Colored People, worked hard to abolish the laws that segregated public schools. In Topeka, Kansas, Oliver Brown filed a lawsuit against the Board of Education when his daughter, Linda Brown, was denied entry into a public school. Brown claimed that the segregated African American school was inferior to the all-white school and the 14th Amendment gave all American citizens equal protection. The newly appointed Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren went against his predecessor's belief that the Plessy decision should stand and engineered a unanimous verdict in favor of the NAACP. The head of defense for the NAACP was Thurgood Marshall, who would later be appointed as the first African American Justice by President Lyndon B. Johnson. Warren claimed that segregated schools were inherently unequal and, therefore, separate but equal directly went against the 14th Amendment. This verdict opened the door for desegregation throughout America, but many local jurisdictions denied the verdict. For example, in Little Rock, Arkansas, the Governor called the state national guard to prevent black students from being integrated into an all-white school. These students became known as the Little Rock Nine and President Eisenhower eventually sent the national guard to protect the students and escort them to school. This proved that the federal government was willing to uphold its decision to equalize public education. The Brown v. Board of Education verdict fueled the Civil Rights Movement and led to many additional legislatures being passed in order to provide equal rights for all American citizens. Other acts included Rosa Parks refusal to remain in segregated bus seats and the consequent Montgomery Bus boycott, many sit-ins and other protests led by Martin Luther King Jr., the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the Fair Housing Act of 1968, and the Runyon v. McCrary court case that ruled that even private schools were prohibited from denying admission based on race.
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| Linda Brown |
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| Linda Brown Picture by Norman Rockwell |
In 1968, the Runyon v. McCrary court case challenged that even in private schools, admission must be equally open to all races. This meant that schools who denied admittance on account of race would be violating the verdict of this case.
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