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
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