The landmark case Brown versus Board of Education which de-segregated public education in America, turns 60 today. In May 17, 1954 the U.S. Supreme Court held that the ‘separate but equal’ doctrine had no place in public education.

The civil rights’ landmark victory exposed white and black students to each other for the first time and undoing, in theory at least, decades of a “separate but equal” doctrine. It took many years for most Americans to have access to an equal education.

 

The First Lady, Michelle Obama marked the progress America has made while celebrating the graduating high school seniors in the town where the case began. In her speech, she acknowledged the advancements of the past six decades but touched upon the fact that many schools today are still segregated.

 

Thurgood Marshall with James Nabrit Jr. and George E.C. Hayes
after their victory in the Brown v. Board of Education case
before the Supreme Court, May 17, 1954.