Brown v. Board of Education and Desegregation Progress

Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

• Supreme Court ruled that separating public school students based on race is unconstitutional.

• Reversed the "separate but equal" doctrine established in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896).

• Declared that "separate but equal" has no place in public education.

Implementation of Desegregation

• Responsibility for desegregation fell to local governments and school officials.

• Compliance varied; often occurred slowly, sometimes school-by-school.

• Second Brown decision (1955) urged lower courts to admit African-American students "with all deliberate speed."

• Federal government intervention required in some Southern areas to enforce desegregation.

Progress by 1964

• Ten years after Brown, only 380,000 African American students in 17 Southern states and DC attended integrated schools (less than 11% of 3.5 million total in the region).

• Specific statistics:

  • Alabama: 94 out of 89,000 African American students in integrated schools.

  • Mississippi: 58 out of 22,000 African American students in integrated schools.