WHY IT MATTERED
The Court’s decision in Brown had an immediate
impact on pending rulings. In a series of cases after
Brown, the Supreme Court prohibited segregation in
housing, at public beaches, at recreation facilities, and
in restaurants. Later decisions extended equal access to
other groups, including women and resident aliens.
The decision encountered fierce resistance, how-
ever. It awakened the old battle cry of states’ rights.
Directly following Brown, some Congress members cir-
culated the “Southern Manifesto,” claiming the right
of the states to ignore the ruling. In taking a stand on
a social issue, they said, the Court had taken a step
away from simply interpreting legal precedents. Critics
charged that the Warren Court had acted as legislators
and even as sociologists.
The Brown case strengthened the Civil Rights
movement, however, and paved the way for the end of
Jim Crow. The NAACP had fought and won the legal
battle and had gained prestige and momentum.
Americans got the strong message that the federal gov-
ernment now took civil rights seriously.
HISTORICAL IMPACT
Three of the parties involved in Brown—Delaware,
Kansas, and the District of Columbia—began to
integrate schools in 1954. Topeka County informed
the Court that 123 black students were already attend-
ing formerly all-white schools. Even so, the Supreme
Court was well aware that its decision would be diffi-
cult to enforce. In a follow-up ruling, Brown II (1955),
the Court required that integration take place with “all
deliberate speed.” To some this meant quickly. Others
interpreted deliberate to mean slowly.
Only two Southern states even began to integrate
classrooms in 1954: Texas and Arkansas opened one
and two districts, respectively. By 1960, less than one
percent of the South’s students attended integrated
schools. Many school districts were ordered to use
aggressive means to achieve racial balance. Courts
spent decades supervising forced busing, a practice
that often pitted community against community.
Still, despite the resistance and the practical
difficulties of implementation, Brown stands today as a
watershed, the single point at which breaking the
“color barrier” officially became a federal priority.
Civil Rights 915
▼
Thurgood Marshall was
appointed the first African-
American Supreme Court
justice by President Johnson
in 1967.
THINKING CRITICALLY
THINKING CRITICALLY
CONNECT TO HISTORY
1. Analyzing Primary Sources
Legal precedents are set
not only by rulings but also by dissenting opinions, in
which justices explain why they disagree with the majori-
ty. Justice John Marshall Harlan was the one dissenting
voice in Plessy v. Ferguson. Read his opinion and com-
ment on how it might apply to Brown.
SEE SKILLBUILDER HANDBOOK, PAGE R22.
CONNECT TO TODAY
2.
Visit the links for Historic Decisions of the Supreme Court
to research the Supreme Court’s changing opinions on
civil rights. Compile a chart or time line to present the
facts—date, plaintiff, defendant, major issue, and out-
come—of several major cases. Then give an oral presen-
tation explaining the Supreme Court’s role in civil rights.
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