Brown V. Board of Education

In the early 1950’s, segregation of public schools was an issue. White students would go to one school, and colored students would go to another. At the time, white schools were far superior to colored schools because of things like indoor plumbing and heating. All students should be able to go to the same school and get equal education. Oliver Brown agreed, and along with the help of the NAACP, took the Board of Education to court. This case, known as “Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas”, is one of the most important civil rights decisions ever made.

Although the events of the case did not happen until 1951, there were issues going on with segregated schools. In 1949 and 1950, the average expenditure for white students was about $179. For blacks, it was only a mere $43. The country’s 6,531 black students attended schools in 61 buildings valued at $194,575 while the 2,375 white students attended 12 school buildings worth $673,850 with far superior facilities. White schools had indoor plumbing and heating while black schools did not. Also, teachers in black schools only received salaries that were one-third less than teachers in white schools (Salzman 187). This is how schools were segregated financially. However, the root of the problem would not have to deal with finances, but rather education and equality.

The separate-but-equal doctrine was first established in 1896. The U.S Supreme Court ruled in the case Plessy v. Ferguson that separation of races is constitutional as long as equal accommodations are made for each race. An example of this would be if a white person had a public water fountain, then there must be a water fountain for a black person as well. The separate-but-equal did not please Oliver Brown. Oliver and his daughter Linda lived in Topeka, Kansas. There, Linda, who was a black third grader, had to walk 1 mile through a railroad switchyard to get to her black elementary school. There was a white school that was only 7 blocks away from the Browns’ house and Linda could walk on a safe sidewalk to get there as well. Oliver tried to enroll her into the white school but the principal refused. Brown then went to McKinley Burnett, the head of Topeka’s branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). The NAACP was eager to help the Browns (The National Archives). They wanted to challenge segregation in public schools. Soon, other black parents joined Brown. This group would start one of the most important Supreme Court Cases ever.

The U.S District Court for the District of Kansas heard Browns case from June 25th to the 26th, 1951. The NAACP’s views were that segregated schools sent the message to black children that they are inferior to whites, therefore, schools were unequal. The Board of Education’s views were that because segregation was a part of certain aspects of life, segregated schools prepared black children for segregation they would face during adulthood. Also, they argued that black greats such as Booker T. Washington and George Washington Carver had overcome segregated schools and had done great things in their lives. The court was put in a difficult position. They agreed with witnesses that colored children being segregated had a detrimental effect on them. The sense of inferiority affects the motivation for a child to learn. On the other hand, the precedent of Plessy v. Ferguson allowed separate-but-equal school systems. Also, no Supreme Court had overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson case so the court felt compelled to rule in favor of the Board of Education (Wexler, 388). This discouraged Brown and the NAACP. They decided to go all the way to the Supreme Court to find their answer.

Brown and the NAACP appealed to the Supreme Court on October 1, 1951. Their case was combined with other cases that challenged school segregation in South Carolina, Virginia, and Delaware. The Supreme Court first heard the case on December 9, 1952, but failed to reach a decision. The court requested that both sides discuss the circumstances surrounding the adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868. The court had to make its decision based on whether or not desegregated schools deprived black children of equal protection of the law. On May 17, 1954, Chief Justice Earl Warren read the decision of the unanimous court. Earl Warren stated, “We come then to the question presented: does segregation of children in public schools solely on the basis of race, even though the physical facilities and other “tangible” factors may be equal, deprive the children of the minority group of equal educational opportunities? We believe that it