Brown v. Board of Education

This 1896 Supreme Court decision established the controversial doctrine of "separate but equal," allowing segregation of public facilities by race, as long as the facilities were said to be reasonably equal.

• Marbury v. Madison

• Plessy v. Ferguson

• Brown v. Board of Education

• Bush v. Gore

• "All railroads in the state shall provide separate passenger cars for the white and colored races" (Tennessee 1891)

• "No colored barber shall serve white women or girls" (Atlanta, Georgia 1926)

• "It shall be unlawful for a negro and white person to play together in any game of cards or dice, dominoes, or checkers" (Birmingham, Alabama 1930)

All of these are examples of _____________________________.

• Integregation

• Constitutional Amendments

• Jim Crow Laws

• Zoning Laws

What was the name of the African American lawyer who led many of the NAACP's court cases against segregation in 1940s?

• W.E.B. Du Bois

• Booker T. Washington

• Thurgood Marshall

• Martin Luther King Jr.

This famous Supreme Court case began in Topeka, Kansas in 1951 when an African American man sued the local Board of Education after his daughter was denied access to Topeka's all-white elementary schools.

• Marbury v. Madison

• Plessy v. Ferguson

• Brown v. Board of Education

• Bush v. Gore

This scientific experiment by Doctors Mamie and Kenneth Clark was used to demonstrate the harmful psychological effects school segregation was having on young children.

• The Doll Test

• The Race Test

• The Milgram Experiment

• The Bystander Effect

What did the Supreme Court decide in its Brown v. Board of Education ruling?

• Each state had the right to choose for itself whether or not to integrate its schools.

• The doctrine of "separate but equal" was permissible and could be continued.

• Racial segregation of public schools was unconstitutional and had to end.

• All forms of segregation, including "colored" drinking fountains, all-white swimming pools, and separate sections of restaurants for people of different races, were illegal.

What were two limitations of the Supreme Court's Brown v. Board decision? (Select two correct answers)

• It only applied to segregation in public schools — not other facilities like restaurants, theaters, parks, and hotels.

• It only applied to northern states. Legal segregation was allowed to continue in the South.

• It did not force schools to integrate. States were given the option of whether they wanted to continue having all-black and all-white schools.

• It did not give an exact timeline for when states must end segregation and integrate their public schools.

True or False: The vast majority of white southerners supported the Brown decision and welcomed Black students into formerly all-white schools.

• True

• False

Who were the Little Rock Nine?

• The nine Supreme Court justices who decided Brown v. Board of Education.

• The nine African American students who volunteered to enroll at Central High School, breaking the color barrier in Arkansas public schools.

• The nine members of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) who led the Greensboro lunch counter sit-ins in 1960.

• The nine basketball players who made up the original "Dream Team."

At age 6, ________________ was the first African American child to attend a formerly whites-only elementary school.

• Ruby Bridges

• Rosa Parks

• Coretta Scott King

• Harriett Tubman