A History of the Civil Rights Movement

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A History of the Civil Rights Movement

education violated the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. In announcing the unanimous decision, Chief Justice Earl Warren wrote: Segregation of white and colored children in public schools has a detrimental effect upon the colored children. The impact is greater when it has the sanction of the law. . . . We conclude that, in the field of public education, the doctrine of “separate but equal” has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal. The Supreme Court ruled that racially segregated public schools were a violation of the U.S. Constitution. All public schools were ordered to desegregate. THE CHALLENGE BEGINS The B rown v. Board of Education decision gave the civil rights movement a defining victory. However, the process of desegregating schools would take determination and time. The order to integrate public schools met with heavy resistance from Southern whites. It wasn’t uncommon for resolute segregationists to refuse to integrate their public schools. Opposition came from public schools all over the South, from Texas and Kentucky to Tennessee and Mississippi. Resistance took many forms. Rather than integrate, some white-domi nated school boards closed schools. In other cases, mobs of angry whites prevented African American students from attempting to enter all-white schools. Some government officials openly opposed integration. They refused to enforce the ruling. It would be many years before public schools in the United States were integrated.