Prior to Brown, Black principals and teachers comprised 35 percent to 50 percent of the educator workforce in the 17 states with segregated school systems. Scholars say that the current lack of Black educators in the profession can be traced to the aftermath of the Brown decision. Supreme Court 68 years ago this week, afforded Black children access to the same educational opportunities as white children, ending the doctrine of “separate but equal.” But it also caused the dismissal, demotion, or forced resignation of many experienced, highly credentialed Black educators who staffed Black-only schools.Īfter the decision, tens of thousands of Black teachers and principals lost their jobs as white superintendents began to integrate schools but balked at putting Black educators in positions of authority over white teachers or students.
Board of Education of Topeka, which was decided by the U.S. The chief council for the plaintiffs was Thurgood Marshall, who later became the first Black Justice appointed to the Supreme Court.One of the nation’s most significant milestones for civil rights also devastated the pipeline of Black educators, with consequences that are still being felt today.īrown v. The case was then heard by the Supreme Court in 1954, along with other similar cases from around the country, and it became known as Brown v.
The original case was tried in a district court and was defeated on the grounds that the Black schools and white schools were sufficiently equal and therefore segregated schooling in the district was protected under the Plessy decision. One of these suits was filed against the board of education in Topeka, Kansas, on behalf of Oliver Brown, a parent of a child who was denied access to white schools in the Topeka school district. In the early 1950s, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) brought class action lawsuits against school districts in several states, seeking court orders that would require the districts to allow Black children to attend white schools.
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