Educational Court Case Investigation

1. Educational
Court Case
Investigation
Zelma Uribe

2. ❖ Brown v Board of Education (1954).
❖ A lawsuit started by Oliver Brown against the board of education of Topeka. The lawsuit was to abolish the
segregation of education systems.
❖ The case took place in the 1950s, in Topeka, Kansas, and was decided May 17, 1954.

3. Wh0 Was Involved in the Case?
❖ Linda Brown, student.
❖ Parents involved: Oliver Brown, Darlene Brown, Lena Carper, Sadie Emmanuel, Marguerite Emerson,
Shirley Fleming, Zelma Henderson, Shirley Hodison, Maude Lawton, Alma Lewis, Iona Richardson,
Lucinda Todd.
❖ Lawyer, Thurgood Marshall, then head of the NAACP, later became a member of the Supreme Court,
represented the schoolchildren in Brown.
❖ Supreme Justices: Warren, Black, Reed, Frankfurter, Douglas, Jackson, Burton, Clark, Minton.
❖ NAACP

4. Merged with Other Cases of Similar Reasons
❖ The other cases were:
➢ 'Oliver Brown et al. v. The Board of
Education of Topeka, Kansas'.
➢ Briggs v. Elliott (In South Carolina)
➢ Davis v. County School Board of Prince
Edward County (filed in Virginia)
➢ Gebhert v. Belton (filed in Delaware)
➢ Bolling v. Sharpe (filed in Washington D.C)
❖ In Spring, 1953, the combined case was
heard by the Supreme Court, under the
name of 'Brown v. Board of Education.
After the case, the board of education
integrated the black schools with the white
schools, and vice versa.
❖ All the cases were supported by the
NAACP.

5. Decisions from the Supreme Court
❖ All cases were African American children seeking admission to public schools that required
segregation based on race.
❖ The cases directly conflicted with the Plessy v Ferguson case, "separate but equal"
❖ The plaintiffs alleged that the segregation happening in public schools was unconstitutional under the
Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
❖ They argued that segregated schools were not and could not be equal and therefore deprived students
of equal protection of the laws.

6. Decisions from the Supreme Court Continued
❖ The case was appealed to the United States Supreme Court. On 17 May 1954 the Warren Court
handed down a unanimous 9-0 decision which stated, in no uncertain terms, that "Separate
educational facilities are inherently unequal."
❖ Plessy v Ferguson was overturned and "separate but equal" was completely abolished.
❖ Brown did not, however, result in the immediate desegregation of America's public schools, nor did it
mandate desegregation of other public facilities, such as restaurants or bathrooms. However, it was a
giant step forwards for the US civil rights movement.

7. Memorable Quotes from the Justices
❖ "We conclude that the doctrine of 'separate but equal' has no place. Separate educational facilities are
inherently unequal." —Chief Justice Earl Warren
❖ Justice Earl Warren also claimed that "in the eyes of the law, justice was color-blind."

8. Educational Implications as a Result of the Case
❖ Teachers should be aware that they should not treat students differently based on their race.
❖ All students should be treated without discrimination by all educational faculty.
❖ Most importantly, as a result of this case, teachers should be aware that they will be teaching different
types of students.

9. References
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. Retrieved March 23, 2018, from
https://www.oyez.org/cases/1940-1955/347us483.
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 (1954). Retrieved 23 Mar. 2018, from
https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/347/483/case.html.
Historic Supreme Court Cases. Retrieved 23 Mar. 2018, from http://www.socialstudieshelp.com/edlaw.htm.
Landmark Cases of the U.S. Supreme Court. Retrieved 23 Mar. 2018, from
http://landmarkcases.org/en/landmark/cases/brown_v_board_of_education#Tab=Overview.
Stahl, J. (30 Oct. 2015). 10 Important Supreme Court Cases about Education. Retrieved 23 Mar. 2018, from
https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/10-important-supreme-court-cases-about-education/.