Brown v. Board of Education is the unanimous US Supreme Court decision of 17 May 1954 holding that state-mandated racial segregation of public schools violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, overturning the separate-but-equal doctrine of Plessy v. Ferguson. The Court found segregated schooling inherently unequal, making the case one of the most consequential rulings in American civil-rights and education history. Its implementation, left by the 1955 follow-up ruling to proceed with all deliberate speed, was slow, and full desegregation required later legislation and enforcement.
Facts
Key ProvisionHeld racial segregation of children in public schools unconstitutional, overturning the separate-but-equal doctrine of Plessy v. Ferguson. 2 Enacted / Adopted YearDecided 17 May 1954; a Supreme Court ruling rather than enacted legislation. Classification
Policy TypeAccess or Equity Policy 1 Education LevelPrimary Education (ISCED 1) 1 Policy Status
Policy Status (category) FAQs
What did the Supreme Court decide in Brown v. Board of Education?
It held that racial segregation of children in public schools is unconstitutional, overturning Plessy v. Ferguson's separate-but-equal doctrine.
On May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that state-mandated racial segregation of public schools violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The ruling held that segregated schooling is inherently unequal, overturning the separate-but-equal doctrine set by Plessy v. Ferguson.
Did school segregation end immediately after the ruling?
No, the 1955 follow-up ruling called for desegregation with all deliberate speed, and implementation was slow.
No. The Court's 1955 follow-up ruling directed desegregation to proceed with all deliberate speed rather than immediately, and actual implementation was slow; full desegregation required later legislation and enforcement.
Connections
Associated With
Source Wikipedia
Additional Source Plessy v. Ferguson (Wikipedia)Lead section
School choice policies gained prominence in parts of the US shortly after Brown v. Board required school desegregation, and some voucher schemes were used to help white families avoid newly integrated public schools.
Source Wikipedia
Title IX, enacted in 1972 to extend the antidiscrimination principle of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into sex-based discrimination in education, belongs to the same civil-rights era in American education that Brown v. Board of Education opened in 1954; the two are not directly linked.
Source Wikipedia
Policies Informed
The Coleman Report's 1966 findings on educational opportunity examined the state of the school desegregation Brown v. Board of Education had ordered twelve years earlier, and pioneered later study of school desegregation.
Source Wikipedia
IDEA's own account of its historical background opens with Brown v. Board of Education's 1954 ruling against segregated schooling as the gateway moment of the civil-rights movement in American education that its own guarantee of equal access for children with disabilities later extended.
Source Wikipedia
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Brown v. Board of Education
Wikimedia FoundationLead section
483 (1954), is a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that ruled that U.S.
sections of the article
The Topeka Board of Education operated separate elementary schools due to an 1879 Kansas law, which permitted (but did not require) districts to maintain separate elementary school facilities for black and white students in 12 communities with populations over 15,000.
View the Source 2. U.S. National Archives, Milestone Documents
Brown v. Board of Education milestone page, opinion conclusion
Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.
Brown v. Board of Education milestone page, decision date
On May 17, 1954, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren delivered the unanimous ruling in the landmark civil rights case.
In Category: Curriculum, Assessment and Policy, Brown v. Board of Education milestone page
This page categorizes Brown v. Board of Education as a "Milestone Document" within the National Archives' collection.
View the SourceWikipedia
Wikimedia FoundationAssociated With: School Choice, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_choice, Criticism - Racism section, Brown v. Board linkQuote, Associated With: School Choice, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_choice, Criticism - Racism section, Brown v. Board link
School choice policies have been accused of racism, as they came into prominence shortly after the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision required desegregation of public schools.
Plessy v. Ferguson (Wikipedia)
Associated With: Plessy v. Ferguson, Lead sectionQuote, Associated With: Plessy v. Ferguson, Lead section
Constitution as long as the facilities for each race were equal in quality, a doctrine that came to be known as "separate but equal".
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