When Linda was refused admission

Fifty years ago, in 1952, eight-year-old, Linda Brown, was refused admission to a public school in Topeka, Kansas, because she was Black and...

Fifty years ago, in 1952, eight-year-old, Linda Brown, was refused admission to a public school in Topeka, Kansas, because she was Black and the school was reserved for White students. She was told to go to another public school reserved for blacks which had equal facilities.

The school was segregated on the basis of race under a doctrine of “separate but equal”, which had been enunciated by the US Supreme Court itself way back in 1897. Linda’s parents took their daughter’s case to the Supreme Court. They said separate facilities for Blacks and Whites were inherently unequal, unjust and illegal and it was time to set aside this pernicious doctrine. The court was left in a very difficult position. In making a decision that favoured Linda, it was taking a big risk. Many Americans, especially in the South, would disregard the verdict by saying that the ruling was not law but only the diktat of nine men of the court. At the same time, if the Supreme Court were to allow segregation to continue in schools in 1954, it was risking its irrelevance to the revolution of equality sweeping the world and the expectations of not only Afro-Americans but also that of other nations who were shocked by the practices against Blacks in the south.

What would the court do? The world awaited an answer. There was some unexpected luck. The case was first heard in 1952, with Chief Justice Fred M. Vinson presiding over a court of nine judges. The chief justice and three other judges were known to be unsympathetic to the cause of desegregation. Everyone knew that if the nine judges were split in their opinions, it would be a recipe for civil disorder. At this stage, the court postponed hearing to call for more detailed arguments. The delay created a new dynamic. Chief Justice Vinson died unexpectedly. Governor Earl Warren of California, who had wholeheartedly supported the civil rights of Afro-Americans, took his place. Freed from the late chief justice’s influence, his three supporting judges now voted for desegregation and all nine judges unanimously confronted the nation with their view against desegregation on May 17, 1954. Chief Justice Earl Warren delivered the most momentous judicial decision of the last century in the Brown versus Board of Education Topeka.

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The court decided that in the field of public education the doctrine of “separate but equal” was wrong. Separate educational facilities for Blacks and Whites were inherently unequal and illegal. The most powerful president or the mighty Congress could not have ordered such a change in society as the court had done. What followed was sensational. There was resolute opposition to the court’s rulings in the south — Arkansas, in particular. In 1956, an amendment was added to the Arkansas Constitution that required the General Assembly to oppose “in every constitutional manner” the Supreme Court decision. On September 2, 1957, Governor Faubus sent the Arkansas National Guards to Little Rock High School to prevent nine Black students from attending it. Even with police protection, they could not attend the school.

Faced with this obstruction, Eisenhower issued a Proclamation on September 23, 1957, ordering the obstructionists to cease and desist. When even this was not respected, he ordered the armed forces to implement his order. In a memorable speech he said: “The very basis of our individual rights and freedoms rests upon the certainty that the President and the executive branch of government will support and insure the carrying out of the decisions of federal courts, even, when necessary with all the means at the President’s command. Unless the President did so, anarchy would result.”

In spite of the president’s action, the school authorities later appealed to the Supreme Court to postpone the implementation of desegregation in the Arkansas High School. In an opinion unprecedented for its authorship by all nine judges led by the chief justice, the court noted that the governor and the Arkansas legislature had acted on the belief that they were not bound by the Supreme Court’s holding in Brown. In emphatic terms the court rejected this, stating, “The federal judiciary is supreme in the exposition of the Law of the Constitution.” It required many more years before segregation in public schools was fully implemented. Eventually, the Brown decision restated the spirit of America and provided a beacon of hope for Blacks at a time when the government had nothing to offer. The result can only be described as a revolution. State laws enforcing a racial system which perpetrated segregation from birth to burial, were invalidated.

Fifty years of Linda Brown’s case is a cause for celebration not only for the US Supreme Court but for all judiciaries in the world including that of India.

The writer is a former solicitor-general of India