Linda Brown had to travel a mile every day to get to her non-white school, even though she lived near a white school. The Browns attempted to enroll Linda at the white school, but were turned away, as were several other black families. In Brown v. Board of Education, a group of 13 parents, including Linda's dad, Oliver Brown, sued the Topeka school board on behalf of their 20 children in federal district court.
alleging that segregation deprived them of equal protection of the laws under the 14th Amendment. A panel of three district court judges ruled for the school board, finding that the facilities for black students were largely equal to those for white students. The court cited the 1896 Supreme Court precedent Plessy v. Ferguson, which validated separate but equal accommodations in public transportation, but acknowledged the detrimental effect segregation had on non-white children.
Brown appealed directly to the U.S. Supreme Court, which granted certiorari and consolidated Brown with four other cases, from South Carolina, Virginia, Delaware, and the District of Columbia, to determine whether state-sponsored racial segregation in public schools could continue. The plaintiffs were representatives of black children who were refused admission to white public schools under existing racial segregation laws.
The plaintiffs offered sociological data as proof. that segregated schools resulted in black children feeling inferior to their white peers. The plaintiffs argued this type of educational system should not be sanctioned and sought desegregation. The court ruled for the plaintiffs, reasoning that even assuming equality between the schools, the separation itself was a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. Chief Justice Warren, writing for a unanimous court, said, We conclude that in the field of public education, The doctrine of separate but equal has no place.
Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal. Warren set aside originalist arguments about the 14th Amendment, remarking on the metamorphosis that had occurred in public education since the passage of the amendment. Then, education was provided mainly on a private basis and almost exclusively to white children. States now educated all children. Warren further relied on the sociological data offered by the plaintiffs regarding the lasting feeling of inferiority created in black children by segregated schools, finding that the inherent inequality deprived them of equal protection.
This was a landmark case because previous segregation cases had focused on the lack of equality between the separate black and white facilities. The brown plaintiffs set out to prove that there's no such thing as separate and equal. Separation alone creates unacceptable inequality. Through this ruling, the court overturned Plessy, which had served as the legal basis for racial segregation for more than 50 years.
Foreseeing obstacles to implementation, the Supreme Court asked the attorney generals of all states with segregated schools to submit plans for desegregation. The Brown case served as a major milestone in the Civil Rights Movement and became one of the legal foundations for challenges to segregation in other areas of American life. If you found this video helpful, you can explore all of our content by visiting us at Quimby.com. If you have a question or comment about this case, please post it in the comments area below, and we'll do our best to get back to you. If you think we did a good job with this video, please like, share, and favorite it.
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