LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION, commemorating the 60th Anniversary of Brown v.
Board of Education, the landmark United States Supreme Court decision
that ended school segregation

WHEREAS, It is the custom of this Legislative Body to recognize those
milestones and significant events which represent turning points in our
unique history and which are indelibly etched in the saga of our great
Nation; and
WHEREAS, Attendant to such concern, and in full accord with its long-
standing traditions, this Legislative Body is justly proud to commem-
orate the 60th Anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, the landmark
United States Supreme Court decision that ended school segregation; and
WHEREAS, On May 17, 1954, the United States Supreme Court unanimously
ruled that "separate but equal" public schools for blacks and whites
were unconstitutional; and
WHEREAS, This landmark decision helped serve as a catalyst for the
modem civil rights movement, inspiring education reforms across the
nation and providing a basis for legal challenges to segregation in all
areas of society; and
WHEREAS, Brown v. Board of Education was a consolidation of anti-
segregation court cases from five different jurisdictions and included:
Brown v. Board of Education (Kansas), Briggs v. Elliot (South Carolina),
Bulah v. Gebhart and Belton v. Gebhart (Delaware), Davis v. County
School Board of Prince Edward County (Virginia), and Bolling v. Sharpe
(District of Columbia); and
WHEREAS, These smaller cases were combined as part of a legal movement
to remedy the grossly inadequate conditions in segregated black schools;
they sought to overturn the infamous 1896 case of Plessy v. Ferguson
which had permitted racial segregation under the guise of "separate but
equal"; and
WHEREAS, The Supreme Court's Brown decision was particularly important
for how it focused on the illegality of segregation itself; the court
ruled that even if tangible factors like facilities, teachers and
supplies were equal, separation itself was inherently unequal and a
violation of the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment; and
WHEREAS, The Supreme Court's unanimous opinion concluded that a quali-
ty education was crucial for all children and ruled that it was the
state's responsibility to ensure educational equality; the Court also
noted that segregation has a detrimental effect upon children of color
and that the impact is more profound when it has the sanction of the
law; and
WHEREAS, After Brown v. Board of Education, the nation made great
strides toward opening the doors of education to all students; with
court orders and active enforcement of federal civil rights laws,
progress toward integrated schools continued to move forward; more work
is needed however, to ensure educational achievement and opportunity for
all; and
WHEREAS, Equal access to educational opportunities in our nation's
public schools is vitally important to both the social and economic
well-being of our nation, as well as the success of our democracy as a
whole; now, therefore be it
RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
commemorate the 60th Anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, the
landmark United States Supreme Court decision that ended school segre-
gation.