Brown v. Board of Education
The Untold Story
Nicole Russell
Plessy V. Ferguson



In 1890 a new law in
Louisiana required
railroads to provide “equal
but separate
accommodations for the
white, and colored, races.”
Outraged the black
community decided to test
the law.
On June 7, 1892 Homer
Plessy was jailed for
sitting in the “White” car
of the East Louisiana
Railroad. Plessy was oneeighths black & seveneighths white, but
according to Louisiana law
he was black.
Homer Plessy
Plessy v. Ferguson cont.
 Plessy went to court
arguing that the
Separate Car Act violated
the thirteenth and
fourteenth amendments.
 Unfortunately, the judge
found that Louisiana had
the right to regulate
railroad companies that
operated exclusively in
Louisiana, and found
Plessy guilty of refusing
to leave the White car.
Plessy v. Ferguson cont.
 Plessy appealed to the Supreme
Court of Louisiana, which upheld the
original decision.
 In 1896 the Supreme Court of the
United States heard Plessy’s case and
found him guilty once again. This
decision established the separate, but
equal doctrine.
Separate But Equal
 Justice Henry Brown wrote that the
intention of the fourteenth amendment was
not to abolish racial distinctions. Nor to
establish social equality, but merely to
establish political equality. Laws permitting
and even requiring separation of races do
not imply inferiority.
 The “separate but equal” doctrine
strengthened segregation practices in
schools and throughout public life.
The Road to Brown v. Board of Education
 As early as 1849, African Americans had sought judicial
relief from segregation throughout public education.
 In the 1930’s, under the leadership of Charles Hamilton
Houston, the NAACP, begin to attack the “separate but
equal” doctrine. Houston strategically focused his attacks
on the realm of public education, because he felt like the
detrimental effects of racial segregation were most readily
apparent in this area of public life.
 Initially, the NAACP focused their efforts on forcing states
to live up to the “equal” portion of the “separate but equal
doctrine.”
 Through a series of court victories the NAACP successfully
strengthened the “equal” component of “separate but
equal.” States would have to make sure that their separate
educational programs were truly equal in terms of
resources, reputations, and other measurements.
The Road to Brown v. Board of
Education cont.
 In 1948, 52 year old U.S. army veteran, McKinley
Burnett, became the head of the Topeka chapter of
the NAACP.
 The Topeka chapter was small, but amongst it’s
members were a group of well-educated professionals
with ties to a prominent psychiatric clinic.
 For the next two years Burnett, attended every single
school boarding meeting. In fact, Burnett saved all
his vacation/leave time in order to attend the board
meetings, because they were held during his work
hours.
 Burnett, wanted to get on the public comment section
of the agenda, in order to discuss the integration of
public elementary schools in Topeka (upper grades
were already integrated.)
The Road to Brown v. Board of
Education cont.
 Since, the board refused to acknowledge,
Burnett’s continued requests, he decided it
was time to forge ahead and seek legal
remedies.
 Burnett joined forces with the Scott family
law firm, a local law firm with a well
established, history of litigating
discrimination cases within the state of
Kansas.
 After consulting with the national chapter of
the NAACP, the Topeka chapter decided to
file a class action law suit.
The Road to Brown v. Board of
Education cont.
 The Topeka chapter, spent the summer of
1950 recruiting potential litigants.
 In the fall of 1950 prior to the start of the
school year, they had successfully recruited
13 families (a total of 20 children.)
 The families were instructed to take their
child/children and a witness to the white
school nearest their homes, and attempt to
register their child/children, and then
report on what had occurred.
The Road to Brown v. Board of
Education cont.
 After all the potential litigants had been
denied admittance, the legal team set to
work.
 It was a strategic decision to place Oliver
Brown’s name at the head of the roster.
The legal team thought that a male headed
household would be better received by the
supreme court.
 In February of 1951, the legal team filed
the case which we know as Oliver L. Brown,
et al. v the Board of Education of Topeka,
Kansas.
Brown v. Board of Education
 In 1951, Eight year old
Linda Brown, like
many of the children
involved in the case,
lived in an integrated
neighborhood.
 “I had all of these
playmates of different
nationalities. And so
when I found out that
day that I might be
able to go to their
school, I was just
thrilled, you know.”
Linda Brown in her segregated
classroom 1953
Brown v. Board of Education cont.
 Initially, the court was charged with
determining whether or not the state of
Kansas had provided separate and equal
education for the students in its charge.
 As the case evolved the issue before the
court became, “whether segregation
stigmatized children and wounded them in
a psychological way ... and made statesponsored segregation something that was
constitutionally unsupportable. “
Brown v. Board of Education cont…
 On August 3rd of 1951, the U.S. District Court in
Kansas rendered their decision to uphold the right of
the Topeka school board to maintain segregated
schools. They decided that the schools were both
separate and equal.
 The three judge district panel, did acknowledge the
validity of the arguments presented regarding the
psychological impact of state sponsored segregation,
but they could not make a ruling that contradicted the
Supreme Court’s decision in Plessy vs. Ferguson.
 Brown et. al was consolidated with four different
cases from other states, that were on the supreme
courts docket and dealt with the same underlying
issues.
The Courts Decision
Quoting Judge Huxman from the district court of Kansas: “Segregation
of white and colored children in public schools has a detrimental effect
upon the colored children. The impact is greater when it has the
sanction of the law; for the policy of separating the races is usually
interpreted as denoting the inferiority of the Negro group. A sense of
inferiority affects the motivation of a child to learn. Segregation with
the sanction of law, therefore, has a tendency to retard the education
and mental development of Negro children and to deprive them of
some of the benefits they would receive in a racially integrated school
system.”
Whatever may have been the extent of psychological knowledge at the
time of Plessy v Ferguson, this finding is amply supported by modern
authority. Any language in Plessy v Ferguson contrary to this finding is
rejected. We conclude, unanimously, that in the field of public
education, the doctrine of "separate but equal" has no place. Separate
educational facilities are inherently unequal.
http://www.history.com/media.do?action=clip&id=cd3track31
The Legacy of Brown v. Board of
Education
 Was an impetus for much needed
conversations on racism, segregation,
equality, and much more.
 Fueled the movement for Civil Rights.
 Brown v. Board of education doesn’t
specifically address Ell's, but it did set the
precedent for equality in education, as a
priority for all learners. This precedent has
been used to address issues concerning
English language learners.
References
Ask an Expert NCELA Frequently Asked Questions. Department of Education
United States of America. Septermber 25, 2006.
<http://www.ncela.gwu.edu/expert/faq/07court.html>
Black White and Brown Transcript: Brown versus the Board of Education of
Topeka. Originally aired May 3, 2004.
Brown v. Board of Education Myths and Truths. Brown Foundation for
Educational Equity, Excellence and Research. April 11, 2004.
<http://brownvboard.org/mythsandtruths/ >
Exploring Constitutional Conflicts. Separate but Equal? The Road to Brown.
July 17, 2007.
<http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/sepbutequal
.htm>
Separate is Not Equal Brown v. Board of Education. Smithsonian National
Museum of American Behring Center. July 17, 2007.
<http://americanhistory.si.edu/Brown/history/1segregated/detail/plessy-v-ferguson.html>