Brown vs.

Board of Education of
Topeka
By:
Rachelle Evans
David Lasic
Sladjana Narancic

Topics Covered in this

Presentation
■ Goals and Objectives of this Presentation
■ History Prior to the Case (Timeline)
■ Why this case was filed
■ History of the Case
■ History of Brown’s impact throughout the United
States
■ How the verdict impacts education today
■ Liability Issues impacting teachers in NV schools
■ Factors affecting NV schools today
■ Shaping and Dealing with Legal Issues as a teacher
■ Bibliography

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 Presentation Goals
and Objectives
The learner will be able to:
■ Identify at least three major historical cases and their impact
on society prior to Brown v. Board of Education
■ Identify at least three reasons why Brown v. Board of
Education was filed and outcome of the original case
■ Identify the four cases Brown was combined with upon
appeal to the US Supreme Court and their original outcome
■ Determine and explain reasons behind Brown’s decision
■ Define:
– Segregation, Desegregation, and Integration
– “Separate but Equal”
■ Recognize Brown’s impact on education:
– In the United States
– In Nevada
■ Identify at least two factors affecting the history of
segregation in Nevada
■ Identify at least two factors affecting decisions we make as
teachers today

History Prior to the Case

(Laws)
■ 1865: 13th Amendment ratified;
banned slavery in United States
■ 1868: 14th Amendment ratified;
equal protection of the law
guaranteed for all
■ 1870: 15th Amendment passed; all
male citizens guaranteed right to
vote
■ 1875: Civil Rights Act passed;
discrimination outlawed in public
places
■ Picture: Abraham Lincoln, 16th Pres.

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History Prior to the Case
(Bad Cases)
■ 1896: Plessy v. Ferguson;
“separate but equal” doctrine
established
■ 1899: Cumming v. Richmond
County; courts can’t interfere w/
local school boards
■ 1908: Berea College v. Kentucky;
college classes must be segregated
■ 1927: Gong Lum v. Rice; children
can be considered “white” or
“colored” for school assignments
■ Picture: “Separate but Equal”
facilities

History Prior to the Case

(Good Cases / Victories)
■ 1936: Murray v. Maryland;
University of MD law school
desegregated
■ 1938: Gaines v. Canada; University
of MS law school desegregated
■ 1950: McLaurin v. Oklahoma State
Regents for Higher Education;
University of Oklahoma desegregated
■ 1950: Sweatt v. Painter; University
of TX law school desegregated
■ Picture: Donald Murray in law school
at the University of Maryland after his
victory in court

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 Reasons for filing of Brown v.
Board of Education of Topeka
Ø Linda brown, a black 3rd grader, had
to walk past a railroad, through heavy
traffic, and take a bus to her all black
school over a mile away, even though
there was a white school blocks from
her home
Ø Her father felt this was dangerous
and attempted to convince the board
of education to improve his
daughter’s situation for three years
Ø After unsuccessful attempts, her
father filed this lawsuit with the help
of the NAACP based upon prior
victories regarding desegregation

Arguments on behalf of Brown

■ Black children encountered

difficulties which white
children did not, including a
commute of over an hour
(children)
■ Colored children’s
curriculum is hurt by not
associating them with white
children; thus segregated
curriculums cannot be equal
(Hugh Speer)
■ Segregating schools impairs
a black child’s education
(Linda Holt)

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 History of Brown
1. District court ruled against Brown
2. Court stated all of Topeka’s schools were of “comparable
quality” because the Brown had failed to prove the inferiority
of the black schools to the white schools, thus no
constitutional rights of blacks were being violated
3. Court also stated, “segregation of white and colored children
in public schools has a detrimental effect upon the colored
children.”
4. The case was appealed, but was never heard before an
Appellate court.
5. Instead, a class action lawsuit was filed in the US Supreme
Court, which combined appeals from four cases and included
plaintiffs from the states of Delaware, Kansas, South
Carolina, and Virginia; all with the common goal of ending
segregation in the schools
6. This class action lawsuit became known as Brown v. Board of
Education of Topeka, Kansas

The Delaware Cases

■ 1951: Belton v. Gebhart and Bulah v.
Gebhart filed
■ A black school in Delaware had no
gymnasium, nurse’s office, or water fountain,
and only a single toilet
■ Court stated, “the ‘Separate but Equal’
doctrine in education should be rejected, but
decision must come from US Supreme Court”
■ 1952: Court ordered children of all eleven
plaintiff’s to be admitted to white-only schools
■ Desegregation began in elementary and high
schools

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Davis v. County School Board
of Prince Edward County (VA)
v 1951: NAACP filed a lawsuit on behalf of
117 black students after a strike by 450
students, charging the district with
providing an inferior education
v Requests by plaintiffs:
v Improvements to Moton High or a new
high school for black students
v Desegregation of the county’s schools
v “Children attending inferior schools grow
up with conceptions of themselves as
being not worthy” (M. Brewster Smith,
Psychologist)
v 1952: Court ruled against Davis, stating,
“racial segregation in VA was ‘a part of
the mores of her people’ and resulted in
‘no hurt or harm to either race’.”
v Picture: Plaintiffs from Davis standing on
the steps of the capitol in Virginia

Briggs v. Elliott (South Carolina)

■ 1947: 34 buses provided for white students; none for black students
■ 1/3 of the county’s black citizens were illiterate
■ A minister and principal asked the district to provide buses for black students
and the request was denied
■ 1948: Lawsuit filed, but thrown out due to jurisdiction issues
■ 1949: Lawsuit re-filed claiming grossly unequal facilities for black students
– Teacher-student ratios: 28 to 1 for white students, 47 to 1 for black
students
– Pupil spending: $179 for white students, $43 for black students
– No indoor plumbing in black schools, students required to use outhouses
and drink water from metal buckets
– White students attended school free, black students had to pay for
textbooks and heating of coal
■ 1951: Case began, defendants admitted inferior educational facilities for
blacks, but stated situation would be remedied
■ “Prejudice and segregation have definitely detrimental effects on the
personality development of the Negro child” (Kenneth Clark)
■ Court’s ruling: It was too late to state segregation violates constitutional
rights, since it’s been around for over 75 years, but the black and white
school systems must be equalized soon

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 Educational Segregation in the
United States prior to Brown

Brown v. Board of Education of

Topeka, KS in the US Supreme Court

Ø ISSUE: Did the framers of the 14th Amendment

intend it to cover public education?
Ø October 1952: Originally scheduled to begin
case, but was postponed
Ø December 1952: First round of oral arguments
began
Ø December 1953: Final round of oral arguments
Ø May 1954: Decision made by the court:
Ø “We conclude that in the field of public
education the doctrine of ‘separate but
equal’ has no place. Separate educational
facilities are inherently unequal.”
Ø Segregation in all public schools shall be
ended and deemed illegal because it
violates the rights of blacks under the 14th
Amendment

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Brown’s impact on education
today
■ This case served as a catalyst for
the launching of the modern civil
rights movement for complete
desegregation; not just in schools
■ It paved the way for an equal and
fair education for all students
regardless of color.
■ Better schools (integrated ones)
have “produced measurable gains
for disadvantaged children” (Diane
Ravitch, prof. of education)

Brown’s impact on
education today (cont.)
ü Decision in Brown deprived racial
(mandatory) segregation of its moral force
ü Tensions increased between whites and
blacks with the integration
ü “White flight” - Racial tensions prompted
several white families in the North to leave
inner cities for the suburbs, causing several
schools to become entirely black anyway,
therefore segregating schools by choice
ü Several students began to be transported to
other schools with the goal of “integration”

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Liability issues impacting
teachers in Nevada
Ø Consequences for being a
racially biased educator can
include:
§ Discipline up to and including
termination of employment
§ Civil law suits filed against
you by students and their
parents
§ Law suits against the school
district
§ Loss of NV teaching license
§ Fines imposed by the court
and payment of attorney fees
to the other party

Segregation Facts about

Nevada Schools
■ As late as the 1930’s: Indians in
Nevada did not attend school with
white children and separate schools
were maintained for each group
■ 1940’s: Nevadans enacted legislation
to integrate Indian children into
public schools
■ 1990’s: The Las Vegas-area
integration plan dismantled; the
average Latino student in 2003
attended schools that were 63%
non-white; 20 years earlier, these
schools were nearly 66% white.
■ 2000-2001: Nevada has the 9th
largest percentage of Blacks and
Latinos in schools typically white and
the 13th most integrated states for
Black students at 36.0% in majority
white schools

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 Legal Issues and Shaping
Decisions as a Teacher
– Teachers must keep in
mind at all times to treat
all students equally
– More and more funding is
heading towards at-risk
schools with
predominately black and
Hispanic populations
– Extra incentives are
being paid to teachers
willing to work in “at
risk” communities (in
Nevada and other states)

Legal Issues and Shaping

Decisions as a Teacher (cont.)
■ No Child Left Behind Act: Teachers must be
highly qualified in their subject area (18 to 24
college credits directly in the subject) to teach
that subject; forced several teachers to obtain
more credentials to maintain their license,
especially for dual endorsements

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 Recent Supreme Court
Decision on Race and Schools
■ On June 28, 2007, the Supreme Court, in a 5-4
decision, ruled that race should NOT be a factor in
the assignment of children to public schools.
■ In two major school districts, Seattle and Louisville,
school plans had used race to decide which classes
students would attend.
■ The Supreme Court thought this was unfair and went
too far to accomplish racial diversity.
■ According to www.NPR.org, in 2001, Louisville’s plan
was that most public schools should have at least
fifteen percent and no more than fifty percent
African-American enrollment.

Recent Supreme Court

Decision on Race and Schools
■ In some cases, the school districts twice denied children the
school closest to their homes.
■ One parent, Crystal Meredith said, “I was told by the school
board that my son’s education was not as important as their
plan. I was told I should sacrifice his learning in order to
maintain the status quo.”
■ Clarence Thomas, the only African-American U.S. Supreme
Court Justice, stated that school assignment plans based on
race are just as unconstitutional as race-based segregation was
in 1954. Thomas said, “What was wrong in 1954 cannot be right
today.”
■ Click on or paste the following URL into your browser
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11507539
and then click on “Hear Madeline Brand” to hear the case discussed.

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY
■ Fuentes, Annette. “Segregation is back in class.” USA Today
14 Mar. 2007: Online Journal.
■ Fireside, Harvey and Sarah Betsy Fuller. “Brown v. Board of Education: Equal
Schooling for All” Enslow Publishers, Inc. 1994
■ Tackach, James. “Brown v. Board of Education” Lucent Books, Inc. 1998
■ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown v. Board of Education#Background
■ http://www.nps.gov/brvb/historyculture/brownvboard.htm
■ http://www.adl.org/education/brown_2004/Lesson%204--Handouts.pdf
■ http://www.cnn.com/2007/LAW/06/28/scotus.race/index.html
■ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
■ dyn/content/article/2007/06/28/AR2007062800896_pf.html
■ http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11507539
■ http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11596196

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