The
Brown V. Board of Education Case
Brown V. Board of Education of Topeka
African American schools were extremely inferior when compared to white schools. The material was often old and outdated and there were little to no basic schools supplies. The faculty and administration of these black schools were dedicated and qualified, but they were underfunded, and couldn’t teach much to the kids, when there was nothing to teach with. The NAACP had decided to question the Plessy decision in public education, to try to change the education system. The strategy for gaining equality in that school district was developed by McKinley Burnett, the chapter president in the Topeka branch of the NAACP. In Kansas, there was no law saying you had to segregate public elementary schools in richer cities, so Burnett had been trying to make the Topeka Public School Officials just choose integration, but that approach had been failing. The plan for securing integration in public schools involved getting NAACP members, and personal friends to be plaintiffs in the suit against the Topeka Board of Education. Soon, thirteen parents agreed to participate as plaintiffs for their children.
Photo of Brown Plaintiffs and their children
The Plaintiffs attempted to register their children in local white schools and when they were denied because they were black, they had to report back to the NAACP. This gave the attorneys the evidence needed to sue. The schools for black children were only equal to white schools in facilities and the teachers’ pay. However, they were not equal when it came to the program offers, and the material; the black school lacked both. Also, white children were made the priority. There were eighteen white schools, and only four black schools, and it was already established that the black students couldn’t attend the white schools, so transportation to school was hard as well. Oliver Brown was the lead plaintiff because he was the only male in the plaintiff group. The case was filed against Topeka School Board, as Brown V. Board of Education of Topeka. The District Court favorably ruled for the Board of Education. The case was appealed to the Supreme Court, and along the way was combined with four other NAACP cases, and became known as the Oliver L. Brown et. al. vs. The Board of Education of Topeka, et. al.
Photo of classroom Linda Brown attended
Photo of McKinley Burnett
McKinley Burnett was president of the Topeka Branch of the NAACP. He was against racial inequality and injustice and repeatedly petitioned against the Topeka Board of Education, which were all ignored. He wrote to the NAACP for help in creating a lawsuit against the school board.
Oliver Brown’s name was the first name on the plaintiff list for one of America's most important desegregation cases. The complaint was about the segregated schools and the psychological effects the separation had on the black children.
Photo of Oliver Brown