Brown v. Board of Education 

Our FYS 1000 class did another moot court of the Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education (1954). It was a consolidation of cases from four states, each of which questioned the constitutionality and fairness of having separate schools for black and white children. In one of the cases, Oliver Brown sued the Board of Education of the City of Topeka Kansas because his daughter was denied admittance to the white school near her home. On May 17th, 1954, the court ruled to overturn Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), declaring that it was unconstitutional to segregate schools by law.

My group defended segregation, using the following arguments; 

1. The Plessy v. Ferguson ruling and the "separate but equal" doctrine- schools provided for black children in Topeka, Kansas were equal to those provided for whites 
2. Integration of schools would not have kept black children from feeling inferior to whites. They were not as well educated, and putting the two races in the same schools would prevent students from reaching their full potential
3. State and local governments are responsible for making decisions regarding education- an issue of federalism

The group in favor of integrating the schools argued that segregation made black children feel inferior to whites. They also pointed out the dangers that black children faced on their way to a school that may not have provided the same level of education as a school for white children. 

For more information about the case, visit archives.gov