Neal Sharma

4/22/14
rd
3 Period

Brown v Board of Education

All the schools in the United States could still be segregated if the case Brown v Board of
Education was never brought up in the Supreme Court. The constitutionality of segregation in
schools was tested by this case. Even though many people disagreed with segregated schools
they still did not try to prevent it. Until this case was brought up in the Supreme Court every
school in the United States was segregated and nobody thought twice of it. Brown v Board of
education is the most important case in the history of the United States because this case over
turned the decision in Plessy v Ferguson, it changed the future of schooling in America, and it
lead to the desegregation of blacks and whites in the United States.
The very controversial case of Plessy v Ferguson determined that segregation in schools
was constitutional if the schools were separate but equal. Schools were allowed to keep black
and whites separate as long as their facilities were the same. Brown v Board of Education was
the first case that went against this decision by bringing up the segregation of schools to the
Supreme Court. Brown v Board of Education was composed of five different cases that all dealt
with the unconstitutionality of segregation in schools. These cases were Brown v. Board of
Education of Topeka, Briggs v. Elliot, Davis v. Board of Education of Prince Edward County (VA.),
Boiling v. Sharpe, and Gebhart v. Ethel. When all the cases came to the Supreme Court in 1952
the Court decided to combine all of the five cases under one name, which was Brown v Board of
Education.
The impact of Brown v Board of Education was the desegregation of schools in the
United States. Without this case schools in America would still be segregated and all the

Neal Sharma
4/22/14
rd
3 Period

common places. This case did not only affect schools but rather the outlook of citizens toward
all places that were segregated. After the schools were desegregated the United States began
to enforce the same policy everywhere else. This case also over turned the precedent in Plessy
v Ferguson, which was a huge case years ago. The decision to integrate all public schools tore
down the racial barrier in America.
The importance of Brown v Board of Education is that this case completely changed the
outlook of segregation in America. This case led to the Civil Rights Movement in America, which
in turn, removed the racial barrier between blacks and whites. By declaring that racial
segregation was unconstitutional by the 14th amendment blacks were able to begin expressing
themselves freely and without consequence. Without this case the schooling system may still
be separated today, and the experience of schooling would be much different. If this case never
came up in the Supreme Court the United States would be completely different and the Civil
Rights Movement may have never started.

Neal Sharma
4/22/14
rd
3 Period

Works Cited
"History of Brown v. Board of Education." USCOURTSGOV RSS. United States Courts, n.d. Web. 22 Apr.
2014.