Brown v. Board of Education

Brown v. Board of Education

Mother talks to daughter after segregation 

is declared unconstitutional in schools

Brown versus Board of Education is a monumental case that helped change the educational system. When looking at this court case, the Plessy v. Ferguson case has to be observed in order to understand the background circumstances that were occurring. In 1892, Homer Plessy refused to give his seat on a train up to a white man. Since he was required by law to do so, he was arrested and eventually he took his case to the Supreme Court. They ruled against him and allowed for Jim Crow laws and discrimination to continue to occur. The 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson allowed for separate but equal public schools and facilities.

In 1950, Oliver Brown attempted to enroll his African American daughter into a white school. His daughter, Linda Brown, and her sister had to walk through a dangerous railroad yard to get the bus to take them to an all black school. The white school was closer to their house but the federal district dismissed Brown’s claim and said that the two schools were equal enough to fit under the Plessy v. Ferguson doctrine. Brown appealed his case to the Supreme Court, and this case along with Briggs v. Elliot, Davis v. Board of Education of Prince Edward County, Boiling v. Sharpe, and Gebhart v. Ethel became known collectively as Brown v. Board of Education in 1952. All five of the cases were based on the constitutionality of state sponsored segregation in public schools.

Thurgood Marshall, who was the chief counsel of the NAACP, argued in this case that the separate schools were unequal and violated the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment. He stated that black children felt inferior to white children due to segregated schools. There were also studies done that showed that black girls had low racial self esteem. One of these studies, the Doll Test, was used as evidence in the Supreme Court case. The Doll Test tested African American children between 3 years old and 7 years old by showing them four dolls with different races. The children had to identify the races of each and say which one they preferred. Many of the black children chose the white doll and gave it positive traits. Some said the black dolls were bad and said that the white ones looked the most like them. Lawyers argued that this showed the inferiority that the black children felt due to the segregated schools.

One of the dolls used in the Doll Test

Most of the justices on the Supreme Court wanted to reverse Plessy and thought segregation was unconstitutional, but they each had different reasons for this. When there still was not a solution by June 1953, the case was decided to be reheard in December of 1953. In the meantime, Earl Warren replaced Fred Vinson as chief justice after Vinson passed away. Warren was able to bring the justices together to declare segregation in education unconstitutional. They said the fourteenth amendment guarantees equal education for everyone. They also stated that education is the basis of a person’s life and if this right was denied, people were less likely to succeed. The Supreme Court asked the state attorney generals to submit plans for how to get rid of segregation. In the second hearing of the Brown case, or Brown II, in May of 1955, the Supreme Court said desegregation was to proceed with “all deliberate speed”. This did not immediately solve the problems because this statement is vague and hard to enforce. However, the case of Brown v. Board of Education greatly impacted education and the role that segregation played in society.

Works Cited

"Brown v. Board of Education." Uscourts.gov. U.S. Courts, n.d. Web. 15 Apr. 2017.

History.com Staff. "Brown v. Board of Education." History.com. A&E Television Networks, 2009. Web. 15 Apr. 2017.

"Kenneth and Mamie Clark Doll." National Park Service. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Apr. 2017.

"Landmark Cases of the U.S. Supreme Court." Brown v. Board of Education | Www.streetlaw.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Apr. 2017.

McBride, Alex. "Brown v. Board of Education." PBS. Public Broadcasting Service, Dec. 2006. Web. 15 Apr. 2017.

"NAACP Legal Defense Fund : Defend, Educate, Empower." Brown at 60: The Doll Test | NAACP LDF. Legal Defense and Educational Fund, n.d. Web. 15 Apr. 2017.