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'''Brown v. Board''' was a landmark, and extremely controversial, Supreme Court decision that outlawed segregation in public institutions.

'''Brown v. Board''' was a landmark, and extremely controversial, 1954 Supreme Court decision that order racial desegregation of public schools. It was based on the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution, and on some social science research that claimed to show that black children have trouble learning unless white children are in the classroom. The decision led to later decisions requiring forced racial busing of school children.

== Law & Social Change ==

== Law & Social Change ==

Although the Supreme Court handed down ''Brown'' in the early 50s, it is interesting to note that little actually occurred in the way of factual desegregation for over ten years, as a result of massive resistance by southern conservatives, seeking to preserve for as long as possible the Jim Crow-structure of the early south. This raises interesting questions as to the role of the Supreme Court in bringing about actual social change.  No-one today will dispute the need for the ''Brown'' decision, and its importance, but many will query whether it changed that much, or if its use was rather in sending a definitive signal that the days of segregation and institutionalized racism were at a close.

It is debatable how much actual desegregation was caused by this and related federal court decision. This raises interesting questions as to the role of the Supreme Court in bringing about actual social change.  No one today will dispute the need to end the earlier system of segregated schools, and the importance of the decision, but many will query whether it changed that much, or if its use was rather in sending a definitive signal that the days of segregation and institutionalized racism were at a close.

== Other Links ==

== Other Links ==