RIP: Linda Brown Of "Brown Vs. Board of Education" Dies At The Age Of 76!

Linda Brown, who at the age of 9 became the cornerstone figure in the landmark Supreme Court case that struck down segregation in the nation's schools, has died at age 76 in Kansas, according to published reports. Topeka’s former Sumner School was all-white when Brown's father, Oliver, tried to enroll the family. He became lead plaintiff in the historic 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision.

Peaceful Rest Funeral Chapel of Topeka confirmed that Linda Brown died Sunday afternoon, according to the Associated Press. Her sister, Cheryl Brown Henderson, founding president of The Brown Foundation, confirmed the death to The Topeka Capital-Journal. She declined comment from the family. The Supreme Court eventually ruled that racial segregation of children in public schools violated the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. It overturned Plessy v. Ferguson, an 1896 decision that held that segregated public facilities were constitutional as long as black and white facilities were equal.

The ruling constitutionally sanctioned laws barring African Americans from sharing the same buses, schools and other public facilities as whites known as “Jim Crow” laws and established the separate but equal doctrine that would stand for the next six decades.
Posted By Joe