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Setting the scene
By 1954, racial segregation was legal in 17 Southern states under the 'separate but equal' doctrine established by Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896. Black schools received far less funding—South Carolina spent $179 per white student versus $43 per Black student. The NAACP, led by Thurgood Marshall, had been chipping away at segregation in law schools and graduate schools since the 1930s. In 1951, Oliver Brown, a welder in Topeka, Kansas, sued the school board after his daughter Linda was forced to walk 21 blocks to a Black school when a white school was 7 blocks away. The case was combined with four others from South Carolina, Virginia, Delaware, and Washington D.C.
What happened
The Supreme Court, led by new Chief Justice Earl Warren, heard arguments in December 1952 and December 1953. The NAACP argued segregation harmed Black children, citing Kenneth Clark's doll studies showing Black children preferred white dolls. On May 17, 1954, the Court ruled unanimously 9-0 that 'separate educational facilities are inherently unequal,' overturning Plessy. Warren, seeking unanimity to avoid Southern resistance, crafted a short, non-accusatory opinion. The Court delayed implementation, and in Brown II (1955) ordered desegregation 'with all deliberate speed'—a phrase Southern states exploited to delay for decades.
Why it still matters
Brown v. Board was the legal foundation of the civil rights movement, though it took the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and federal troops in Little Rock (1957) to enforce it. The decision sparked massive resistance in the South—Virginia closed schools rather than integrate, and Southern Manifesto signed by 101 congressmen denounced the ruling. It also inspired the Montgomery Bus Boycott and sit-ins. Brown established that the Constitution protects against racial discrimination and that the Supreme Court could be an agent of social change. It remains one of the Court's most important decisions, though American schools are today more segregated than in the 1970s due to housing patterns.
Background
The ruling became foundational for the civil rights movement.