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Brown v. Board of Education

Definition

A landmark Supreme Court case in 1954 that declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students to be unconstitutional.

Analogy

Imagine a restaurant where people with blue eyes are served gourmet meals, while those with brown eyes get only bread and water. This is unfair, right? The Supreme Court thought so too when it came to education, ruling that separating students based on race was unjust.

Related terms

Segregation: The enforced separation of different racial groups in a country, community, or establishment.

Civil Rights Movement: A struggle by African Americans in the mid-1950s to late 1960s to achieve civil rights equal to those of whites, including equal opportunity in employment, housing, and education.

Equal Protection Clause: Part of the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution providing that no state shall deny to any person within its jurisdiction 'the equal protection of the laws.'