In the Supreme Court case of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka(1954), the court made a unanimous decision to declare the "separate but equal" legislation as unconstitutional. This unprecedented decision repealed the notorious court case of Plessy V. Ferguson, which first implemented the notion of separate but equal; meaning that segregation was fine since society could claim that African Americans were "equal". This ruling stated that all acts of segregation were unlawful and ultimately unconstitutional and called to overturn the 1896 ruling of separate but equal through the asserting the equal protection clause under the 14th amendment. This was a landmark event leading up to the civil Rights Movement, since African American students began to integrate themselves with the rest of American society.
Although this court ruling was definitely a step towards the right direction, the ruling did not enforce desegregation. Many individuals who strongly favored segregation, chose to disobey the ruling and continued to enact black codes in order to discourage African Americans from receiving equal paying jobs and equality in of itself.
Sources:
https://www.google.com/search?q=brown+v.+board+of+education&rlz=1CAACAG_enUS689US689&espv=2&biw=1366&bih=633&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwig4aT0kdPMAhUW3WMKHTLiD1oQ_AUIBigB&safe=active&ssui=on#imgrc=Q5itJDNQXcSBKM%3A
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_v._Board_of_Education
The way the Court came to this decision was unique in that it was not based mostly on tangible factors that had characterized previous desegregation cases that failed to strike down segregation. The Court dealt directly with segregation this time and ruled that it didn't matter if the separate facilities were equal, segregation itself was inherently unequal and a violation of the equal protection clause. This more broad view of social issues is what contributed to the courts finally striking down segregation.
ReplyDeletesource: http://www.civilrights.org/education/brown/?referrer=https://www.google.com/