Separate but Equal

Looking at a typical American high school today, you would see something completely different than what you would have if you had looked at a high school in the 1940’s or earlier. Today American schools are full of students of every color going to school side by side to get the same education. This obviously has not always been the case. The phrase ‘separate but equal’ has been around for quite some time and is still referenced to today; it has been a phrase that has helped change America vastly over the years in more ways than one.



The Plessy v. Ferguson case of 1896 was ruled that segregation in schools was still legal if it was state sponsored. This meant that states were requiring their schools stay separate but equal. Separate in the sense that the color separated the students into which school they attended. They continued to be equal in sense that each school was supposed to have been taught and funded the same, therefore still being equal. However, in 1951 when thirteen Topeka parents filed a class action law suit against the Board of Education of the city of Topeka, it was once again brought to the attention of Supreme Court members about segregation in schools when the District court ruled with the Board of Education. When appealed to the Supreme Court, the case ended with a unanimous ruling that any state laws establishing separate schools for black and white students were unconstitutional.



It was extremely important for Brown v. Board of Education to have a unanimous ruling from the Supreme Court because the decision of this case would lead to other important movements in the country. Had this ruling not been unanimous in its decision, there could have been questions of why it did not pass with one hundred percent of the votes. This in turn could have led to political turmoil surmounting to a point where something would have to be done. In the end, it could have ended poorly had not the vote been unanimous across the board. Having a unanimous ruling made the decision that much clearer to the country about how segregation was to be viewed.



If I had been a Supreme Court Justice in 1954 during this case, I would have voted in favor of Brown. I would have voted this way for a couple of reasons. To begin with, I personally believe that segregation in schools is unconstitutional. The idea of separating children in school because of the color of their skin does not sit well with me. Not only can the children not help what color their skin is but going to school should mean going to school for an education, something of which that shouldn’t matter what color a child’s skin is. Secondly, I believe that with the time things were beginning to change and that ruling in favor of Brown was a better judgment against carrying on segregation into a new chapter of history for America.



Through all of this, Brown v. Board of Education is a very important key point in American history. It showed that the times were changing and that if questioned; the law will be upheld justly to the constitution. Brown v. Board of Education ended the ‘separate but equal’ doctrine in public schools, giving all children the fair chance to learn in the same environment no matter what their skin color was. This case in itself has shaped America to how it is today, if those parents had not stepped up to the plate, who knows what America would look like right now.