ABSTRACT
Brown v. Board of Education is a significant historical moment in the formation of colorblind era. Along with the passage of the Civil Rights legislation, Brown sparked the modern Civil Rights movement. Brown has been discussed extensively as a canonical case. Its most significant legal achievement is ending Plessy’s ‘separate but equal’ constitutional doctrine in the field of public education. Additionally, the case has achieved a sort of Holy Grail status in the popular imagination as a shining example of the goodness of American democracy and equality. Brown was a consolidation of four related desegregation cases from around the country and one from the District of Columbia, Bolling v. Sharpe. Because Bolling originated from D.C., it was subject to a Fifth Amendment due process claim as opposed to an equal protection claim, which applies to the states. Brown’s specific reasons and justifications to end segregation in public education deserve as much focus as its overall outcome.
