Brown v. Board of Education On May 17, 1954 the Supreme Court of the United States presented the case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. The case acknowledged that racial segregation of children in public schools violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th amendment. This supreme court decision overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson decision, and also helped end the racial discrimination in public schools along with providing a spark to the American civil rights movement. It began when an African American child, Linda Brown, was forced to travel a significant distance to elementary school due to racial segregation (“Linda Brown”, Biography.com). Knowing that a nearby elementary for whites was a few blocks away from many of African