Time for a change

In 1950, the NAACP lawyers, led by Thurgood Marshall, believed that it was time to take a stand against the segregation in public schools.  The NAACP filed five lawsuits located in various areas of the South: Topeka, Kansas; Clarendon Country, South Carolina; Prince Edward Country, Virginia; Washington, D.C.; and Wilmington, Delaware. 

The NAACP found an abundance of evidence to support the notion that segregation of schools was unequal.  For instance, the lawyers brought up the fact that the overcrowding and overstaffing, along with the poor condition of the schools and the almost nonexistent level of funding led to a meager education.  They proposed that if schools were integrated, then black students would be given the same opportunities as the white students.  In turn, this new adjustment would grant each child the right to a solid, affordable and constitutional education.  Furthermore, the attorneys also introduced a study conducted by black psychologist Kenneth Clark.  Clark's investigation proved that black students often felt inferior because of their race and low self-esteem because they subconsciously knew that they were being discriminated against.  Clark then stated that the psychological damage suffered by the students was connected to the segregation they endured because of their education.

Victory

On May 17, 1954, a year and a half after the first case was heard, the Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice Earl Warren, unanimously agreed that the segregation in public schools was in fact unconstitutional.  The ruling of Brown also helped dissolve the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson ruling.  No longer was the segregation in railroad cars in Louisiana  constitutional.  It seemed as if the fight for civil rights had finally made some solid progress.  

Slow Progress

Despite the verdict, the segregation in schools remained for almost 15 years.  Officials in most white public schools tried to keep the desegregation from happening.  Although the Supreme Court had ended segregation, the decision carried no real power and many civil rights organizations endured another long battle for the law to begin its rightful course.

Who was "Brown?"

If the NAACP lawyers led the trial against the segregation of public schools, where did "Brown" in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas come from?  It was actually Oliver Brown, father of a black student named Linda Brown.  Linda, who was only seven years old, had to travel to a far away school each day often crossing dangerous railroad tracks, stand at a bus stop by herself and ride on a rundown bus to school.  Although there was another school only a few blocks ago, she could not because the school was for white students only.  In 1951, Oliver Brown brought charges forth against the school system in Kansas.  He wanted his daughter to attend the white school, a place where she could not only travel safely to and from home but where she could also gain a worthwhile education.