Separate but Equal:
Brown v. Board of Education and
​​​​​​​the Desegregation Debate

Supported by the “separate but equal” doctrine, which was established by the failure of Plessy v. Ferguson, segregation was rampant during the civil rights era. In response, the NAACP crafted a strategy to attack the doctrine through a series of cases debating its constitutionality. In the cases, they utilized a unique legal strategy that applied psychological evidence to support their debate. After a series of failed debates, they presented their argument to the Supreme Court. Justice Warren used diplomacy to successfully achieve a unanimous Supreme Court decision that ruled against school segregation. Consequently, the decision improved the quality of education available to students of color, although failures in execution did occur. The combination of debate and diplomacy was integral to the case's success.