Desegregation In Public Schools Case Study

Facts: over one third of states segregated their schools by law. 17 of the border states along with the district of Columbia required that their public schools should be racially segregated. At the time the term “separate but equal” was coined behind a lot of these decisions to racially segregate public school but this term was far from true. In 1954 southern black schools received only 60 percent of the per-pupil funding as southern white schools, up from 45 percent in 1940. Many southern black schools therefore lacked such basic necessities as cafeterias, libraries, gymnasiums, running water and electricity.

Charge or Claim: These cases were decided on May 17, 1954. The opinions of that date, declaring the fundamental principle that racial discrimination in public education is unconstitutional, are incorporated herein by reference. All provisions of federal, state, or local law requiring or permitting such
discrimination must yield to this principle. There remains for consideration the manner in which relief is to be accorded.

Issue court is addressing: The Court is of the opinion that the nature of the issue posed in those appeals now before the Court involving the Fourteenth Amendment, and also the effect of any decision which it may render in those cases, are such that it would be well to consider, simultaneously, the constitutional issue posed in the case of Bolling et al. v. Sharpe et al.

Holding: These cases come to us from the States of Kansas, South Carolina, Virginia, and Delaware.
They are premised on different facts and different local conditions, but a common legal question justifies their consideration together in this consolidated opinion.

Disposition: The Supreme Court included no guidance in Brown v. Board of Education on how to actually implement desegregation. Instead, it called for further court discussions, after which it issued a second unanimous ruling in May 1955. Known as Brown II, this seven-paragraph decision tasked local federal judges with making sure that school authorities integrated “with all deliberate speed”—an ambiguous phrase that repudiated the NAACP’s plea for tight deadlines.

Concurring and dissenting opinions: Following the oral argument, chief Justice Warren told his fellow justice’s that the “separate but equal” doctrine should be over turned. Some were still on the fence of whether or not to overturn that doctrine but the efforts of Chief Warren, he was able to turn the other justice’s
opinion’s.

Public Policy and Psychology: This decision made by the Supreme Court was huge for millions of Americans. Although the case had to be brought up again because of the lack of guidance for after the decision was made. It made a huge step towards equality and would also encourage a civil rights movement a few decades later. The public outlook on this at the time was very mixed. You had many people all over the country pleased with this step towards equality. While the deep rooted racism in the south held firm. Many Plaintiff’s took on great personal risk by this case. Many loosing family and friends, while there were even murder attempts on some. The U.S. Government also largely back Thurgood Marshall who was huge to the case.