The decision in Brown sparked a movement that ultimately resulted in the passage of Civil Rights legislation. Yet there was resistance to this landmark ruling – and it came from various sources. This book explores the multifaceted struggles that led to the Supreme Court’s unanimous Brown decision overturning Plessy. It is an excellent, comprehensive overview of the case.
The Case
The Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education overturned the legal rationale of “separate but equal” that its predecessors endorsed in their 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson ruling that segregation of American educational facilities is unconstitutional. The victory was a significant milestone in the American civil rights movement, and it is considered one of the most important Supreme Court decisions in the nation’s history.
The decision was the result of a nationwide campaign spearheaded by the NAACP and its attorneys, led by Charles Hamilton Houston, Dean of Howard Law School and future NAACP President, and Thurgood Marshall, the first Director-Counsel of the NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund. Marshall argued the case on behalf of the plaintiffs, a group of African Americans living in the town of Topeka, Kansas, who wanted to attend the same schools as their white neighbors.
Marshall argued that separate school systems are inherently unequal and violate the Fourteenth Amendment’s equal protection clause. He also cited sociological studies and data showing that segregation harms black children in several ways.
The Supreme Court consolidated the Brown case with three other class-action school segregation lawsuits—Briggs v. Elliott (1951) in South Carolina, Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County (1952) in Virginia, and Gebhart v. Belton (1952) in Delaware—which had been decided by lower courts in a similar fashion. All five cases were heard together in October 1952, and Marshall argued them all.
The Decision
The court case resulted from decades of work done by the NAACP’s Legal Defense and Educational Fund. The lead attorney was Thurgood Marshall, who later became the first African-American Supreme Court justice. The Court was dominated by the “Warren Court,” a group of liberal justices that included Marshall, Justices James Clark McReynolds, and John Marshall Harlan II. The justices were all receptive to the arguments made by Marshall and the plaintiffs, arguing that segregating children based on race violated their right to equal protection under the law. The Court agreed and overturned the Plessy decision, declaring school segregation unconstitutional. In a unanimous decision, the Court argued that separating students of varying abilities from others in the same classroom “creates an environment that tends to promote feelings of inferiority as to their status and value as human beings.” The Court also cited psychological studies showing that such segregation could have long-term adverse effects on children. The ruling forced schools in 21 states to desegregate despite intense resistance in the South. One of the most notorious incidents was in 1957 when Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus called on the National Guard to keep Black students from entering Little Rock Central High School. After a tense standoff, President Eisenhower sent troops, and the students entered the school under armed guard. The decision in Brown did not transform the country overnight, and school segregation continued to exist well into the 1970s. However, the decision did set a precedent that discredited the rationale for racial segregation and inspired the civil rights movement. The Brown v Board of Education summary encapsulates a watershed moment in American history, as the 1954 Supreme Court ruling unequivocally deemed state laws enforcing racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional, igniting a transformative era in the pursuit of equal educational opportunities for all.
The Court’s Decision
The Court issued a unanimous ruling, declaring that segregated schools were unconstitutional and stating that laws mandating separate educational facilities violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Thurgood Marshall, then the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund director, handled the case. Despite the Court’s careful, albeit vague, wording in Brown and a second follow-up decision that detailed the process for desegregation, the Court faced strong resistance from those seeking to retain segregation. This resistance was not just from die-hard segregationists but also from constitutional scholars who feared the Supreme Court overstepped its bounds and was violating the principle of judicial restraint by essentially writing new laws. Even so, the Supreme Court’s ruling was a watershed moment. It was the first time that an elite institution of American law and society had ruled against the interests of millions of white Americans, including some of the most influential members of the country’s ruling class. It was a moment that inspired countless people to become active in the Civil Rights Movement, and it catalyzed events like the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which helped end legal segregation throughout America. But it is important to remember that no single decision can liberate an oppressed group or disadvantaged person and that law, politics, and culture play much more of a role than the legal system.
The Impact
For many Americans, Brown remains a canonized moment in the Civil Rights Movement and a catalyst for events that ended legal segregation in America. The case also helped to galvanize Southern communities, as seen in the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the violent reactions of racist officials like Commissioner Bull Connor. These actions outraged Northern liberals and prompted Congress to introduce the Civil Rights Act 1964. Brown is also viewed as a significant milestone in the fight for equality and fairness in the United States, as it was the first time that the Supreme Court ruled on the constitutionality of separate but equal schools. Despite the decision, de facto segregation remained a significant problem.
Although the decision was a monumental step forward, scholars argue that it did not lead to a complete desegregation of school districts in the decade following its implementation. However, many scholars cite the case as an inspiration for the Civil Rights Movement. As we look to the future, we must fight for school equity. Too often, schools are becoming more segregated, and children of color are funneled out of them into the criminal and immigrant justice systems at much higher rates than white students. We must focus on keeping public dollars in public schools, ending the school-to-prison pipeline, and advocating for thriving public schools for all students.