Brown vs. Board of Education

Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954)

This case presented the U.S. Supreme Court on the issue of de jure segregation. Black children in Topeka were denied admission to public schools attended by white children. The Supreme Court had previously ruled in Plessy v. Ferguson that segregation was allowable under the separate but equal doctrine. In Brown the Supreme Court re-examined this doctrine and, in doing so, also examined the general issue of segregation.

Facts: The Brown case was actually a compilation of five cases but the lead case arose out of a class action filed against the Topeka, Kansas Board of Education. The plaintiffs challenged the district's rule that required that black children attend segregated schools. The Topeka schools were arguably equal in terms of buildings, curricula, qualifications, and teacher salaries.The case was originally heard by the Federal District Court and resulted in the Court's ruling that the district's position as to maintaining segregated schools was proper. The District Court cited the U.S. Supreme Court's prior ruling in Plessy as precedent. Interestingly, the three-judge District Court panel did recognize, in rendering their decision, that segregation had a detrimental effect on black children. The case was heard by the U.S. Supreme Court on direct appeal from the District Court's ruling.

Court Decision: The Supreme Court's ruled that segregation of white and black children in public schools based on race denied black children equal protection of the law guaranteed them under provisions of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Court argued that even if the physical facilities and other factors were equal that such segregation was unconstitutional and that the maintenance of such conditions created a condition where black children were viewed as being inferior. The separate but equal doctrine set forth in Plessy was rejected.

Court Rationale: The Supreme Court's ruling was based upon a broad range of reasons but the reasons were all based on the application of the Equal Protection Clause. The Court ruled that allowing such conditions to continue created a state sanctioned sense of inferiority and placed blacks in a lower status in the community that was likely to affect the minds and hearts of black children that could never be undone. This feeling of inferiority made it difficult for black children to learn. Segregation, the Court ruled, deprived black children of the benefits that they would receive through attendance in a racially integrated school. In the field of public education, the Supreme Court held that the doctrine proclaimed by Plessy of 'separate but equal' had no place.

Dissenting Opinion: There was no dissenting opinion as the decision was unanimous.