347 U.S. 483, 74 S. Ct. 686, 98 L. Ed. 873 (1954)
These cases originated in the states of Kansas, South Carolina, Virginia, and Delaware.1 In each case, minors of the Negro race, through their legal representatives, sought the aid of the courts in obtaining admission to the public schools of their community on a nonsegregated basis after being denied admission to schools attended by white children under laws requiring or permitting segregation according to race.2
In the Kansas case, Negro children of elementary school age residing in Topeka brought an action in the United States District Court for the District of Kansas to enjoin enforcement of a Kansas statute which permits cities of more than 15,000 population to maintain separate school facilities for Negro and white students.3 The three-judge District Court found that segregation in public education has a detrimental effect upon Negro children but denied relief on the ground that the Negro and white schools were substantially equal with respect to buildings, transportation, curricula, and educational qualifications of teachers.4
In the South Carolina case, Negro children of both elementary and high school age residing in Clarendon County brought an action in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of South Carolina to enjoin enforcement of state constitutional and statutory provisions requiring segregation.5 The three-judge District Court denied relief, found the Negro schools inferior, and ordered the defendants to begin immediately to equalize the facilities while sustaining the validity of the contested provisions.6
In the Virginia case, Negro children of high school age residing in Prince Edward County brought a similar action in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.7 The three-judge District Court denied relief after finding the Negro school inferior in physical plant, curricula, and transportation and ordering equalization while upholding the segregation laws.8
In the Delaware case, Negro children of both elementary and high school age residing in New Castle County brought an action in the Delaware Court of Chancery to enjoin enforcement of state constitutional and statutory provisions requiring segregation.9 The Chancellor gave judgment for the plaintiffs and ordered their immediate admission to schools previously attended only by white children on the ground that the Negro schools were inferior with respect to teacher training, pupil-teacher ratio, extracurricular activities, physical plant, and time and distance involved in travel.10 The Supreme Court of Delaware affirmed.11
The cases reached the Supreme Court on direct appeal under 28 U.S.C. § 1253 or on certiorari.12 Argument was heard in the 1952 Term, and reargument was heard in the 1953 Term on certain questions propounded by the Court, including the circumstances surrounding the adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868.13 In the cases other than Delaware, the courts below found that the Negro and white schools involved have been equalized, or are being equalized, with respect to buildings, curricula, qualifications and salaries of teachers, and other tangible factors.14 The Supreme Court consolidated the cases for consideration together because a common legal question justified their consideration despite different facts and local conditions.15
Whether segregation of children in public schools solely on the basis of race, even though the physical facilities and other tangible factors may be equal, deprives the children of the minority group of equal educational opportunities?16
The Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment requires that public education be made available to all on equal terms. Segregation of children in public schools solely on the basis of race deprives the children of the minority group of equal educational opportunities because separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.17
Yes. In the Kansas case, the District Court found the schools substantially equal with respect to tangible factors yet the segregation generated a feeling of inferiority affecting the motivation of Negro children to learn.18 In the South Carolina and Virginia cases, even as the lower courts ordered equalization of facilities, the inherent inequality from segregation itself remained.19 In the Delaware case, although the Chancellor ordered admission to white schools due to inferior Negro facilities, the Supreme Court of Delaware affirmed on that basis, but the principle extends to cases where tangible factors are equal.20
The finding that segregation has a detrimental effect upon colored children, supported by modern authority, applies across all four states' cases, establishing that the plaintiffs were deprived of equal protection.21
Segregation of children in public schools solely on the basis of race deprives the children of the minority group of equal educational opportunities in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.22