Consolidated action brought to challenge racial segregation in public schools; Right to equal protection under the 14th Amendment; Judicial review of the “separate but equal” doctrine; Equality / Non-discrimination; Racial Discrimination; Right to Education.
After the decision in this landmark case, a number of school districts across the country desegregated peacefully. However, resistance to school desegregation at times resulted in open defiance and violent confrontations, including race riots, civil disturbances, and general resistance to integration in many states. The federal government in some instances deployed federal troops to assist in the integration of public schools; such was the case in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957. Cases involving racial segregation in schools still continue. Although racial segregation is no longer legal, in reality, due to economic and other factors, racial segregation in practice continues. Several cases have developed to response to these issues including: Guey Heung Lee v. Johnson, 404 U.S 1215 (1971) – desegregation of Asian schools despite opposition of the Asian students’ parents; Milliken v. Bradley, 418 U.S. 717 (1974) — rejected bussing students across school district lines as an effort to facilitate racially diverse schools; Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1,[1] 551 U.S. 701, 127 S. Ct. 2738 (2007) — rejected assigning students to schools solely on the basis of race; and the Edgewood decisions which have allowed funding for schools to be generated by property taxes regardless of the disparate funding following racial and economic lines that results.
Brown v Board of Education was one of many cases launched by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to contest Jim Crow laws – state laws which allowed for or mandated racial segregation or discrimination. This landmark case effectively brought an end to state sanctioned racial segregation and discrimination in the United States. The case not only began an era of racial integration, but also served as an important stepping stone in the Civil Rights Movement and human rights movement in the United States.
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP): http://www.naacp.org/content/main/