There ’s a reason why , among thousands of importantSupreme Courtcases in United States ' history , Brown v. Board of Education may come to mind first . The impact of the decision changed the face of public education in the U.S. and do the stage for the civic rights movement of the 20th century .
The shell stimulate such a ocean change in America that host Tracy V. Wilson and Holly Frey spendan episode of Stuff You Missed in account Classexplaining how it begins to crackJim Crow — laws that apply segregation in the post - Reconstruction American South — and follow up withanother episodedetailing the tremendous echo of the decision .
Brown v. Board of Education was just one of the five class - action case work by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People ( NAACP ) to force white school to incorporate . ( It was simply the first title on the schedule . ) Thurgood Marshall , who was later charge a Supreme Court justice , argued for the NAACP . Simply say black schools were n’t fund as well or white schools were squeamish — although both were undeniable — did n’t fulfill him . Marshall ’s utilization of psychological studies and researchconvinced the Court that separatism caused existent trauma to bleak children , create excited distress and mental hurt .
But Brown v. Board did n’t just appear from thin air — it was the product of a long history of segregative mandate and opposition to them . Plessy v. Ferguson(1896 ) established that " freestanding but equal " facility , segregated along racial lines , were constitutionally protected . The NAACP , founded in 1909 , challenged prejudiced law like these .
By the thirties , the NAACP had started point law schools that would n’t admit calamitous pupil . Some states did n’t have a law school that admit African - Americans , so many black bookman did n’t have a freestanding ( permit alone equal ) facility where they could get an education . InGaines v. Canada(1938 ) , the Supreme Court ruled that the University of Missouri could n’t offer a bleak bookman a learnedness to a police force school outside the land as " equal " ; they either had to establish a raw law school for black bookman in - United States Department of State or incorporate . The decision , while limited in its scope , was a bellwether for public education .
But that does n’t intend the road to equivalence in pedagogy was comfortable . While the NAACP stay to have succeeder in case involving segregation at university ( likeMcLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents for Higher EducationandSweatt v. Painterin 1950 ) , it was n’t until the early fifties when the administration began to advance vitrine that addressed secernment in lower education .
On May 17 , 1954 , the Court settle to overturn Plessy v. Ferguson in public schools . And a twelvemonth subsequently , the Court ordered the states to integrate " with all calculated f number . " But as Holly and Tracy point out , that was just the first of the conflict against Jim Crow . sink in the podcast player in this article above to see more about howBrown v. Board evolve , then head to theStuff You Missed in History Class siteto listen to a podcast about the impact of the decision .
