Question 1

True or false: The 1954 Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education declared racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional.

Accepted Answer

True. In a unanimous 9-0 ruling, Chief Justice Earl Warren wrote the opinion, which stated that 'separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.'

Question 2

True or false: Linda Brown, the named plaintiff, was a third-grade student who had to walk past a white school to reach her segregated one.

Accepted Answer

False. Linda Brown did not walk past Sumner Elementary. She walked six blocks to a bus stop to attend Monroe School, while Sumner was in a different direction. The iconic walk-past narrative is a myth.

Question 3

True or false: Thurgood Marshall argued the case for the plaintiffs and later became a Supreme Court Justice.

Accepted Answer

True. Marshall, the NAACP's lead attorney, won Brown and was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1967, becoming its first Black justice.

Question 4

True or false: The Supreme Court relied heavily on psychological studies showing segregation harmed Black children's self-esteem.

Accepted Answer

True. The Court cited Kenneth Clark's doll studies, finding segregation created 'a feeling of inferiority' affecting motivation to learn.

Question 5

True or false: Brown v. Board was decided in 1955, the same year as the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Accepted Answer

False. The original Brown decision was 1954; the implementation ruling (Brown II) was 1955. The bus boycott began later in 1955.

Question 6

True or false: Brown v. Board was a single case, not a combination of multiple lawsuits.

Accepted Answer

False. Brown actually consolidated five separate cases from Kansas, South Carolina, Virginia, Delaware, and Washington, D.C.

Question 7

True or false: The case originated from a school district in Topeka, Kansas, where segregation was required by state law.

Accepted Answer

False. Kansas law allowed (but didn't require) segregation in cities over 15,000. Topeka chose to segregate, making it de jure but not mandatory.

Question 8

True or false: The ruling overturned Plessy v. Ferguson's 'separate but equal' doctrine in all public accommodations.

Accepted Answer

False. Brown only applied to public schools. Plessy was effectively overruled for education, but not fully struck down until later civil rights cases.

Brown v Board of Education Trivia Questions