may 17, 1954 - Brown v. Board of Education

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In this pivotal case, the segregation of public schools was found to be unlawful. Significantly, this went against the previous assertion by the Supreme Court in Plessy v. Ferguson that “separate but equal” accommodations were permissible, even ideal. With the deciding of this case, it was declared that public schools were to desegregate “with all deliberate speed”, a phrase so unfortunately ambiguous that many institutions dragged their feet over the matter for years. It’s argued that in fact the verdict of this case never fully took effect, given the inequalities still present throughout the public school system impacting access to funding and resources. Though certainly not infallible, this case marked an initial step in breaking down the idea of segregation.

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