THE LEGACY OF BROWN V BOARD-OF-EDUCATION

In my view, the single most enduring effect of the Brown decision and its progeny has been to reverse the public policy of racial segregation that received Supreme Court approval in 1896 in Plessy v. Ferguson. Plessy was a case that involved segregation on intrastate railroad cars in the state of Louisiana. The effect of Brown was to reestablish, as a constitutional mandate, the right of every African American to enjoy the same rights, privileges, and immunities under the same conditions white persons enjoy. This reversal of national policy has an immediate, convulsive, and permanent effect on our society. This is because race has been the single most divisive issue in our country since its formation.