Brown v Board of Ed. Topeka Kansas (1954) by Alexes Mercado http://www.watson.org/~lisa/blackhistory/early-civilrights/brown.html The 14th Amendment states: All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
In the early 1950's, racial segregation in public schools was normal all across America. Although all the schools were supposed to be equal, most black schools were far inferior in comparison to the all white schools.
There was a black third grade girl named Linda Brown from Topeka, Kansas. She had to walk one mile through a railroad switchyard just to get to her school all black school. Yet, there was an all white elementary school only seven blocks away from her home. When her father, Oliver Brown, attempted to enroll Linda in the white elementary school, the principal would not allow it. Frustrated, Mr. Brown then went to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People or the “NAACP. The NAACP was eager to assist the Browns, as it had long wanted to challenge segregation in public schools. Other parents joined the Browns in their complaint and 12 other parents followed suit. In 1951, the NAACP requested an injunction that would now forbid the segregation of Topeka’s public schools.
The case was heard from in two days, June 25-36, 1951, by the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas. At the trial, Thurgood Marshall, one of the lead attorneys in the case, argued that segregated schools sent the message to black children