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'''Brown vs. Board of Education''' was the landmark 1954 decision that overturned the 1896 Plessy vs. Ferguson decision that allowed de jure (legal) segregation.  

'''Brown vs. Board of Education''' was the landmark 1954 decision that overturned the 1896 Plessy vs. Ferguson decision that allowed de jure (legal) segregation.  

The U. S. Supreme Court under the leadership of Chief Justice [[Earl Warren]] unanimously voted to end segregation with ''Brown''.  The decision made illegal the dual system of white and black schools in the South and border states.  Border states integrated quickly, but Virginia and the Deep South resisted.  At one point President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] sent in the U.S. Army to enforce integration in Little Rock, Arkansas.

The U. S. Supreme Court under the leadership of Chief Justice [[Earl Warren]] unanimously voted to end segregation with ''Brown''.  The decision made illegal the dual system of white and black schools in the South and border states.  Border states integrated quickly, but Virginia and the Deep South resisted.  At one point President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] sent in the U.S. Army to enforce integration in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Apart from schools, segregation continued in the Southern United States until the Civil Rights movement achieved the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Apart from schools, segregation continued in the Southern United States until the Civil Rights movement achieved the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

==The Decision==

==The Decision==

Warren acceded to the position of [[Chief Justice]] while ''[[Brown v. Board of Education]]'' was being reargued at the behest of Associate Justice [[Felix Frankfurter]], who ordered re-argument as a stalling tactic, to allow the Court to gather a unanimous consensus around a ''Brown'' opinion that would outlaw [[segregation]].  Chief Justice [[Vinson]] was one such stumbling block.

Warren acceded to the position of [[Chief Justice]] while ''[[Brown v. Board of Education]]'' was being reargued at the behest of Associate Justice [[Felix Frankfurter]], who ordered re-argument as a stalling tactic, to allow the Court to gather a unanimous consensus around a ''Brown'' opinion that would outlaw [[segregation]].  Chief Justice [[Vinson]] was one such stumbling block.

Warren told his colleagues after oral argument that he believed segregation violated the Constitution and that only if one considered African Americans inferior to whites could the practice be upheld. But he did not push for a vote.  Instead, he talked with the justices and encouraged them to talk with each other as he sought a common ground on which all could stand. Finally he had eight votes, and the last holdout, Stanley Reed of Kentucky, agreed to join the rest. Warren drafted the basic opinion in Brown v. Board of Education (1954) and kept circulating and revising it until he had an opinion endorsed by all the members of the Court.<ref> For text see [http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=347&invol=483 BROWN v. BOARD OF EDUCATION, 347 U.S. 483 (1954)]</ref>  

Warren told his colleagues after oral argument that he believed segregation violated the Constitution and that only if one considered African Americans inferior to whites could the practice be upheld. But he did not push for a vote.  Instead, he talked with the justices and encouraged them to talk with each other as he sought a common ground on which all could stand. Finally he had eight votes, and the last holdout, Stanley Reed of Kentucky, agreed to join the rest. Warren drafted the basic opinion in Brown v. Board of Education (1954) and kept circulating and revising it until he had an opinion endorsed by all the members of the Court.<ref> For text see [http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=347&invol=483 BROWN v. BOARD OF EDUCATION, 347 U.S. 483 (1954)]</ref>  

==Desegregation==

==Desegregation==

The unanimity Warren achieved helped speed the drive to desegregate public schools, which mostly came about under President [[Richard M. Nixon]]. Throughout his years as Chief, Warren succeeded in keeping all decisions concerning segregation unanimous. Brown applied to schools, but soon the Court enlarged the concept to other state actions, striking down racial classification in many areas. Congress ratified the process in the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]] and the [[Voting Rights Act of 1965]]. Warren did compromise by agreeing to Frankfurter's demand that the Court go slowly in implementing desegregation; Warren used Frankfurter's suggestion that a 1955 decision (Brown II) include the phrase "all deliberate speed."<ref> Robert L. Carter, "The Warren Court and Desegregation," ''Michigan Law Review,'' Vol. 67, No. 2 (Dec., 1968), pp. 237-248 [http://www.jstor.org/pss/1287417 in JSTOR]</ref>  

The unanimity Warren achieved helped speed the drive to desegregate public schools, which mostly came about under President [[Richard M. Nixon]]. Throughout his years as Chief, Warren succeeded in keeping all decisions concerning segregation unanimous. Brown applied to schools, but soon the Court enlarged the concept to other state actions, striking down racial classification in many areas. Congress ratified the process in the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]] and the [[Voting Rights Act of 1965]]. Warren did compromise by agreeing to Frankfurter's demand that the Court go slowly in implementing desegregation; Warren used Frankfurter's suggestion that a 1955 decision (Brown II) include the phrase "all deliberate speed."<ref> Robert L. Carter, "The Warren Court and Desegregation," ''Michigan Law Review,'' Vol. 67, No. 2 (Dec., 1968), pp. 237-248 [http://www.jstor.org/pss/1287417 in JSTOR]</ref>