May 17th...This Day in History (Now with links to other events)

Brown v. Board of Ed is decided 1954

 

In a major civil rights victory, the U.S. Supreme Court hands down an unanimous decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, ruling that racial segregation in public educational facilities is unconstitutional. The historic decision, which brought an end to federal tolerance of racial segregation, specifically dealt with Linda Brown, a young African American girl who had been denied admission to her local elementary school in Topeka, Kansas, because of the color of her skin.

In 1896, the Supreme Court ruled in Plessy v. Ferguson that “separate but equal” accommodations in railroad cars conformed to the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection. That ruling was used to justify segregating all public facilities, including elementary schools. However, in the case of Linda Brown, the white school she attempted to attend was far superior to her black alternative and miles closer to her home. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) took up Linda’s cause, and in 1954 Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka reached the Supreme Court. African American lawyer (and future Supreme Court justice) Thurgood Marshall led Brown’s legal team, and on May 17, 1954, the high court handed down its decision.

In an opinion written by Chief Justice Earl Warren, the nation’s highest court ruled that not only was the “separate but equal” doctrine unconstitutional in Linda’s case, it was unconstitutional in all cases because educational segregation stamped an inherent badge of inferiority on African American students. A year later, after hearing arguments on the implementation of their ruling, the Supreme Court published guidelines requiring public school systems to integrate “with all deliberate speed.”

The Brown v. Board of Education decision served to greatly motivate the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s and ultimately led to the abolishment of racial segregation in all public facilities and accommodations.

 (More Events on This Day in History)

• American Revolution

• 1769 Washington criticizes “taxation without representation”

• Automotive

• 2005 Toyota announces plans for hybrid Camry

• Civil War

• 1863 Confederates defeated at the Battle of Big Black River

• Cold War

• 1990 Gorbachev meets with Lithuanian prime minister

• Crime

• 1974 LAPD raid leaves six SLA members dead

• Disaster

• 1994 Fire engulfs Honduras prison

• General Interest

• 1970 Heyerdahl sails papyrus boat
• 1973 Televised Watergate hearings begin
• 2004 First legal same-sex marriage performed in Massachusetts

• Hollywood

• 2000 Final episode of Beverly Hills 90210 airs

• Literary

• 1873 Dorothy Richardson, pioneer of stream of consciousness, is born

• Music

• 1965 The FBI Laboratory weighs in on the “dirty” lyrics of “Louie Louie”
• 2012 Donna Summer, queen of disco, dies

• Old West

• 1885 Geronimo flees Arizona reservation

• Presidential

• 1827 Andrew Johnson marries Eliza McCardle

• Sports

• 1983 Islanders win fourth consecutive Stanley Cup

• Vietnam War

• 1970 Operations continue in Cambodia
• 1972 South Vietnamese reinforcements near An Loc

• World War I

• 1873 Henri Barbusse is born

• World War II

• 1943 The Memphis Belle flies its 25th bombing mission