Question

Why did Thurgood Marshall cite the Fourteenth Amendment to argue that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional? The Fourteenth Amendment guarantees every child an education. The Fourteenth Amendment gives voters the right to reject Supreme Court decisions. The Fourteenth Amendment guarantees equal protection under the law. The Fourteenth Amendment formed the basis for Plessy v. Ferguson.

Answer 1

Correct answer:

The Fourteenth Amendment guarantees equal protection under the law.

Historical context:

Thurgood Marshall argued on behalf of the plaintiffs (black students seeking access to all-white schools) when the cases grouped under Brown v. Board of Education were brought before the Supreme Court in 1952-1953.  At the time, Thurgood Marshall was the head of the Legal Defense and Educational Fund of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).  

The decision of the Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education (decided 1954), agreed with the arguments made by Thurgood Marshall.  The Court ruled that all Americans are entitled to the same civil liberties and equal protections in regard to access to education. Until that decision, it was legal to segregate schools according to race, so that black students could not attend the same schools as white students.  An older Supreme Court decision, Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), had said that separate, segregated public facilities were acceptable as long as the facilities offered were equal in quality.  In the case of Brown v. Board of Education, that standard was challenged and defeated.  Segregation was shown to create inequality, and the Supreme Court unanimously ruled segregation to be unconstitutional.

The ruling affirmed that the 14th Amendment applies to all rights and privileges of citizens, including access to  education.  Section 1 of the 14th Amendment reads as follows:

• All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Answer 2

The 14th Amendment guarantees equal protection under the law. Thurgood Marshall deemed segregated education was inherently unequal.