Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

Chris Huber-LantzGabriel ByrdWeiwei Miao

History of previous court cases Arguments in Brown v. Board of Education Impacts of the court’s decision

Overview

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

• Homer Plessy refused to give up his seat on a

train because of his race

• Established “doctrine of separate but equal”

• 8-1 decision, upholding laws which segregate

on the basis of race

History of relevant court decisions

Murray v. Maryland

• Donald Murray, a black lawyer, prevented from

attending University of Maryland School of Law

• Case argued by Thurgood Marshall

• Lower court ruled that Murray be admitted

• Precedent: If a separate, equivalent school is

not provided, existing schools must integrate

Subsequent cases dealing with educational integration

Missouri ex rel Gaines v. Canada (1938)• Lloyd Gaines, a black law student given the

choice (by the state) of either: Attend a new black-only law school to be

created in Missouri Receive state funding to attend a school out

of state• Court ruled that these options violated Gaine’s

equal protection under the 14th amendment• Precedent: state must provide separate and

equal education with their own borders.

Subsequent cases dealing with educational integration

Sweat v. Painter (1950)• Heman Sweat was barred from attending the

white-only University of Texas law school• University of Texas had created a separate law

school for black students• Court ruled that the black law school was

separate but not equal to its counterpart which was restricted to whites

• Precedent: school’s must be equal in facilities

Subsequent cases dealing with educational integration

McLaurin v. Oklahoma board of Regents of

Higher Education (1950)• George McLaurin was admitted into the

University of Oklahoma’s doctorate program• McLaurin was forced to sit separately and eat

separately from white students• Supreme Court finds that this segregation

negatively impacts McLaurin’s ability to learn, orders it to cease.

• Precedent: Separation inherently causes an inequality education

Subsequent cases dealing with educational integration

Thurgood Marshall was the leader of the NAACP

who worked toward ended segregated America

He provided backing in a number of cases in the

form of legal support and funding, and helped to

win several major victories, one of which was

Brown v. The Board of Education of Topeka

Thurgood Marshall

For: The board of education attempted to argue that

the system of segregation was fully functional, and

that the system had no adverse affects on the students

Against: The arguments against the system of

segregation pretty much pointed out the physical

conditions of the schools, the lack of recognition and

prestige in a lot of those schools, and that the

separation of the schools created feelings of inferiority

Arguments for and against segregation

The schools lacked most basic supplies

Quality of buildings were lacking

Difficult for teachers

The physical condition of the schools

The Africa American colleges lacked prestige

African American professionals had a hard time

being taken seriously

The Schools of Higher Education lacked the prestige of the white

schools

The psychological effects on the children

The Clark Doll tests of 1939

The segregation of the schools created inherent feelings of

inferiority

Overturned the separated but equal doctrine• Reverse Plessy v. Ferguson • Declared segregation in public school is

unconstitutional Violate the “equal protection clause” of 14th

Amendment It strengthened the democratic principal of

equality• Helped to convince American society to end

racial segregation• Provided a strong law for “the protection of

equality of human rights”

Impact of Brown v. Board decision

The end of

segregation by law in Education• Allow other

racial people to attend white schools

Supreme court’s decision had almost no effect

Impact of Brown v. Board decision

Timeline of events leading to Brown v. Board

http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/brown-v-board/timeline.html

Supreme Court Cases leading to Brown v. Boardhttp://www.uscourts.gov/EducationalResources/ConstitutionResources/LegalLandmarks/HistoryOfBrownVBoardOfEducation.aspx

Summary of Brown v. Board Decisionhttp://www.nationalcenter.org/brown.html

Educational materials for Brown v. Boardhttp://americanhistory.si.edu/brown/

Sources

Thank you