What Does The Brown Decision Mean Today?

The Tangled Legacy of the 1954 Supreme Court Ruling

Presented by Dr. Steve O’Neill, Furman University 

Dr. Steve O’Neill is a professor of history at Furman University. His research focuses on the history of the Civil Rights Movement in South Carolina. This lecture explores the legacy of the 1954 Supreme Court case,  Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, and its lasting impact on the American education system. The ruling outlawed segregation in the nation’s schools but did little to combat de facto segregation caused by housing patterns and existing attendance zones. In the years following the Brown decision, district courts worked to better define the parameters of school desegregation. Dr. O’Neill examines the defining cases in South Carolina, emphasizing the Ganaway v. Charleston County School District case and the State of South Carolina decision in 1992.

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