Brown v. Board, Essay Example

What is the significance of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka decision?

African-American kids in Topeka, Kansas were not allowed to access schools that were all-white because of regulations allowing for equal but separate facilities. The ruling of the Supreme Court in Plessy v. Ferguson, in 1896, legalized the idea of equal, but separate. This policy required that any facilities that were separate were supposed to be of the same quality. However, there was an argument by the claimants in this case that separation was inherently not equal. The decision of Brown was truly important as it turned over the equal but separate policy set up by the ruling of Plessy. While before the thirteenth Constitutional amendment was interpreted to the effect that being equal before the law could be achieved by facilities that are segregated, according to Brown this was false. The fourteenth amendment gives a guarantee of equivalent protection in law, and there was a ruling by the Court that facilities that were separate on the basis of race were ipso facto not equal (Henretta and Brody 2009).

The Brown decision by the Supreme Court was also significant as it was not on the basis of gross inequalities in amenities and other factors that are tangible which characterized earlier integration cases. In Brown, the Supreme Court directly dealt with separation, gave a ruling that even if physical factors such as supplies, teachers, and facilities were equal, segregation itself was inherently not equal, and violated the clause of equal protection of the fourteenth amendment. With Grown, there was an effective overturning of the 1896 infamous case of Plessy v. Ferguson, which had allowed racial separation under the pretext of “equal but separate”. It was also noted by the Court that separation has an effect, which is detrimental upon colored children. Therefore, there will be a more profound impact when it is sanctioned by law (Conaway 2006). The Court in reaching this conclusion came up with a decision that was not usual to depend on social science as compared to legal precedent.

Bibliography

Conaway, Judith. 2006. Brown v. Board of Education: the case for integration. Minneapolis, Minn: Compass Point Books.

Henretta, James A., and David Brody. 2009. America: A Concise History. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martins.