Brown v. Board of Education
Although segregation in public schools was supposed to be "separate but equal" it was clearly not in the early 1950's. Linda Brown, a third grader was forced to go to a black elementary school although the white one was much closer and clearly better. The Principal of the school refused to enroll Linda and in response the NAACP took on the challenge and in 1951 requested an injunction to forbid segregation in public schools. In district court listened to the NAACP argue that segregated schools caused kids to believe they truly were inferior. On the other hand the Board of Education argued that segregation in schools prepared them for the segregation they would experience as an adult. The court felt compelled to rule in favor of the board mostly due to the supreme court decision in Plessy v. Ferguson. Soon they appealed to the Supreme Court combined with other cases that challenged school segregation. The court and Chief Justice Earl Warren decided that "separate but equal" had no place in public schools and struck down the decision in Plessy v. Ferguson. Although this ruling did not affect segregation in other public places or even desegregate all schools, it was a huge step toward the desegregation of public schools throughout the nation.
