Abstract
The 1954 Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education established that the segregation of public schools based on race violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Across the United States, there was a spectrum of reactions to Brown. Responses ranged from optimism and celebration to anger and violence. This paper surveys the varied reception of Brown from politicians, parents, teachers, journalists, and other parties. It acknowledges the grayscale of opinions within and across demographic lines. The purpose of this paper is to recognize the complexity of a critical moment in the civil rights movement to prevent the oversimplification of American history.
Recommended Citation
Orlowski, Haylee. “Grayscale Thoughts: Reactions to Brown v. Board of Education." James Madison Undergraduate Research Journal 8, no. 1 (2021): 63-73. http://commons.lib.jmu.edu/ jmurj/vol8/iss1/7.
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