Brown vs. Board of Education
347 U.S. 483
Argued December 9, 1952
Reargued December 8, 1953
Decided May 17, 1954
Argued December 9, 1952
Reargued December 8, 1953
Decided May 17, 1954
Brown vs. Board of Education (1954), now acknowledged as one of the greatest Supreme Court decisions of the 20th century, unanimously held that the racial segregation of children in public schools violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Although the decision did not succeed in fully desegregating public education in the United States, it put the Constitution on the side of racial equality and galvanized the civil rights movement into a full revolution.
Even though Brown vs. Board of Education was passed, the Federal Court did not give states a time by which they had to comply. Southern states resisted desegregating schools. Six years after Brown vs. Board of Education passed, schools in New Orleans were still segregated. If Brown vs. Board of Education never happened it could have been years before someone would have been brave enough to stand up for their rights.
Events leading up to Brown vs. Board of Education
Brown vs. Board of Education was the first major court case that said segregation was unconsitutional. Segregation had been part of the United States Court system for over 100 years. In the 1857 Dred Scott court case, the Supreme Court held that Blacks, enslaved or free, could not be citizens of the United States.
In 1866 Black Codes were established. These codes were laws passed by southern governments and imposed severe restrictions such as prohibiting their right to vote, forbidding them to sit on juries, and limiting their rights to testify against white men. In 1868 the 14th Amendment was ratified. It said all citizens of the United States should not be denied life, liberty, or property and should have equal protection under the law. In 1887 practing of Jim Crow Laws allowed racial separation. Florida enacts legislation requiring segregation in public places. Eight other states followed. 1909 NAACP, National Association for Advancement of Colored People, was founded as the primary tool for the legal attack on segregation and eventually tried Brown vs. Board of Education.
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New York Times reports segregation in schools is unconstitutional.
http://www.africanamericancollection.com/law.htm |