Definition Of Brown V Board of Ed and why it was important
Brown v. Board of Education was a landmark Supreme Court decision in 1954 that declared segregation in public schools to be unconstitutional. The case involved a series of lawsuits filed on behalf of African American students who were denied admission to public schools because of their race.
The decision was significant because it reversed the doctrine of "separate but equal" established in the 1896 Supreme Court case of Plessy v. Ferguson, which allowed for racial segregation as long as separate facilities were provided for each race. Brown v. Board of Education marked a major turning point in the civil rights movement and paved the way for desegregation in schools and other public institutions.
The ruling was grounded in the principle that segregation was inherently unequal and violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. It set a legal precedent for challenging racial discrimination in other areas of American society and helped to inspire a generation of civil rights activism.