Brown v. Topeka Board of Education (1954)

Question 1

What happened?

Answer 1

• Linda Brown, a 7-year-old Black girl, had to walk a long distance to a segregated Black school, even though a white school was much closer.
• Her father, with support from the NAACP, took the case to court, arguing that school segregation was unequal and harmed Black children.

Question 2

Outcome?

Answer 2

Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional, because “separate but equal” was inherently unequal.
• This overturned the earlier Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) ruling, which allowed segregation.

Question 3

Why is it important?

Answer 3

First major legal victory for the civil rights movement.
✅ Encouraged more challenges to segregation.
✅ Faced massive resistance in the South (e.g. Little Rock 1957 showed people still resisted desegregation).
✅ Proved that courts could be used to bring about civil rights change.