BLACK AND WHITE AND BROWN

BROWN V. BOARD OF EDUCATION OF TOPEKA, KS 11 347 U.S. 483 (1954) THE JUSTICES UNANIMOUSLY OVERTURNED PLESSY V. FERGUSON (1896), PROCLAIMING THAT SEGREGATED EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES ARE INHERENTLY UNEQUAL AND VIOLATE THE RIGHT TO EQUAL PROTECTION UNDER THE LAW.

On December 13, 1952, the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court met to consider five cases they had heard argued earlier that week. Those cases raised the most explosive topic any of the jurists would ever have to rule on: whether the Constitution allowed American public school districts to continue to use racial criteria to segregate facilities. Opening the discussion, Chief Justice Fred Vinson admitted, “The situation is very serious and very emotional.”

This was no theoretical matter. In the South, 17 states