In this milestone decision, the Supreme Court ruled that separating children in public schools on the basis of race was unconstitutional. It signaled the end of legalized racial segregation in the schools of the United States, overruling the "separate but equal" principle set forth in the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson case.
On May 17, 1954, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren delivered the unanimous
ruling in the landmark civil rights case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka,
Kansas. State-sanctioned segregation of public schools was a violation of
the 14th amendment and was therefore unconstitutional. This historic decision
marked the end of the "separate but equal" precedent set by the Supreme
Court nearly 60 years earlier in Plessy v. Ferguson and served
as a catalyst for the expanding civil rights movement during the decade of the
1950s.
Arguments were to be heard during the next term to determine just how the ruling
would be imposed. Just over one year later, on May 31, 1955, Warren read the
Court's unanimous decision, now referred to as Brown II, instructing the states
to begin desegregation plans "with all deliberate speed."
Despite two unanimous decisions and careful, if vague, wording, there was
considerable resistance to the Supreme Court's ruling in Brown v. Board of
Education. In addition to the obvious disapproving segregationists were
some constitutional scholars who felt that the decision went against legal tradition
by relying heavily on data supplied by social scientists rather than precedent
or established law. Supporters of judicial restraint believed the Court had
overstepped its constitutional powers by essentially writing new law.
However, minority groups and members of the civil rights movement were buoyed
by the Brown decision even without specific directions for implementation. Proponents
of judicial activism believed the Supreme Court had appropriately used its position
to adapt the basis of the Constitution to address new problems in new times.
The Warren Court stayed this course for the next 15 years, deciding cases that
significantly affected not only race relations, but also the administration
of criminal justice, the operation of the political process, and the separation
of church and state.
For more information, visit the National Archives’ Digital Classroom
Teaching With Documents Lesson Plan: Documents
Related to Brown v. Board of Education.
