Brown v. Board of Education
"In these days, it is doubtful that any child may reasonably be expected to succeed in life if he is denied the opportunity of an education. Such an opportunity, where the state has undertaken to provide it, is a right that must be made available on equal terms."
- Chief Justice Earl Warren, Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
On May 17, 1954, the Court unanimously ruled that "separate but equal" public schools for blacks and whites were unconstitutional. The Brown case served as a catalyst for the modern civil rights movement, inspiring education reform everywhere and forming the legal means of challenging segregation in all areas of society.
After Brown, the nation made great strides toward opening the doors of education to all students. With court orders and active enforcement of federal civil rights laws, progress toward integrated schools continued through the late 1980s. Since then, many states have been resegregating and educational achievement and opportunity have been falling for minorities.
Brown History and Background
Brown v. Board of Education was actually a consolidation of cases from five jurisdictions:
The cases were combined because they all sought desegregation of schools as the remedy for grossly inadequate conditions in segregated black schools.
The Supreme Court's Brown decision was particularly important because it was not based on the gross inequalities in facilities and other tangible factors that characterized previous desegregation cases. In Brown, the Court dealt directly with segregation and ruled that even if tangible factors like facilities, teachers and supplies were equal, separation itself was inherently unequal and a violation of the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment. With Brown, the Court effectively overturned the infamous 1896 case of Plessy v. Ferguson which had permitted racial segregation under the guise of "separate but equal."
The unanimous Court wrote that a quality education was crucial for all children and ruled that it was the state's responsibility to ensure educational equality:
Today, education is perhaps the most important function of state and local governments. Compulsory school attendance laws and the great expenditures for education both demonstrate our recognition of the importance of education to our democratic society. It is required in the performance of our most basic public responsibilities, even service in the armed forces. It is the very foundation of good citizenship. Today it is a principal instrument in awakening the child to cultural values, in preparing him for later professional training, and in helping him to adjust normally to his environment. In these days, it is doubtful that any child may reasonably be expected to succeed in life if he is denied the opportunity of an education. Such an opportunity, where the state has undertaken to provide it, is a right which must be made available to all on equal terms.
The Court also noted that segregation has a detrimental effect upon children of color and that the impact is more profound when it has the sanction of the law. To reach this conclusion, the Court made the unusual decision to rely on social science more than legal precedent. In its arguments and brief, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund had provided the testimony of more than 30 social scientists affirming the harmful effects of segregation on blacks and whites.
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