By — Elizabeth Summers Elizabeth Summers Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/60-years-brown-v-board-far-nation-come-eliminating-segregated-education Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter 60 years after Brown v. Board, how far has the nation come in eliminating segregated education? Nation May 16, 2014 2:12 PM EDT Saturday marks the 60th anniversary of “Brown v. Board of Education,” the landmark Supreme Court ruling that declared separate schools for black and white children were “inherently unequal.” The case’s namesake was Oliver Brown of Topeka, Kansas — a father whose third-grade daughter, Linda, had to commute for over an hour to get to her all-black elementary school each morning, rather than attending the all-white school located blocks from her home. Brown sued on the grounds that his daughter’s rights under the Constitution’s equal protection clause were being violated. Backed by the NAACP, three more states and the District of Columbia joined Brown’s class-action lawsuit before it reached the Supreme Court, where the case was argued by Thurgood Marshall, who would later become the court’s first African-American justice. On May 17, 1954, the court unanimously found that “in the field of public education the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ has no place.” However, opposition to the ruling was immediate and fierce, especially in the south, and it would be 10 more years before President Lyndon Johnson would sign the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Sixty years later, the question of how far the nation has come in eliminating segregated education and increasing opportunity is not a simple one. Tune in to PBS NewsHour on Friday for Gwen Ifill’s in-depth conversation on the ruling, and its historical impact. Joining her will be: Cheryl Brown Henderson, president of the Brown Foundation for Educational Equity, Excellence and Research Sheryll Cashin, professor of law at Georgetown University and author of the new book “Place, Not Race: A New Vision of Opportunity in America” Catherine Lhamon, assistant secretary for civil rights at the U.S. Department of Education Ron Brownstein, editorial director for Atlantic Media and a columnist for National Journal Related: Educational resources for teaching students about Brown v. Board of Education We're not going anywhere. Stand up for truly independent, trusted news that you can count on! Donate now By — Elizabeth Summers Elizabeth Summers Beth Summers is the senior politics producer for the PBS NewsHour where she oversees coverage of Congress, the White House and the Supreme Court. She joined the NewsHour in 2001 as an editorial assistant in the newsroom, and has worked as a reporter for the national desk and as well as the politics desk before becoming the NewsHour’s political director.
Saturday marks the 60th anniversary of “Brown v. Board of Education,” the landmark Supreme Court ruling that declared separate schools for black and white children were “inherently unequal.” The case’s namesake was Oliver Brown of Topeka, Kansas — a father whose third-grade daughter, Linda, had to commute for over an hour to get to her all-black elementary school each morning, rather than attending the all-white school located blocks from her home. Brown sued on the grounds that his daughter’s rights under the Constitution’s equal protection clause were being violated. Backed by the NAACP, three more states and the District of Columbia joined Brown’s class-action lawsuit before it reached the Supreme Court, where the case was argued by Thurgood Marshall, who would later become the court’s first African-American justice. On May 17, 1954, the court unanimously found that “in the field of public education the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ has no place.” However, opposition to the ruling was immediate and fierce, especially in the south, and it would be 10 more years before President Lyndon Johnson would sign the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Sixty years later, the question of how far the nation has come in eliminating segregated education and increasing opportunity is not a simple one. Tune in to PBS NewsHour on Friday for Gwen Ifill’s in-depth conversation on the ruling, and its historical impact. Joining her will be: Cheryl Brown Henderson, president of the Brown Foundation for Educational Equity, Excellence and Research Sheryll Cashin, professor of law at Georgetown University and author of the new book “Place, Not Race: A New Vision of Opportunity in America” Catherine Lhamon, assistant secretary for civil rights at the U.S. Department of Education Ron Brownstein, editorial director for Atlantic Media and a columnist for National Journal Related: Educational resources for teaching students about Brown v. Board of Education We're not going anywhere. Stand up for truly independent, trusted news that you can count on! Donate now