The Supreme Court today received a request from the American Jewish Congress that it outlaw racial segregation in all public schools throughout the country.
The Jewish organization’s brief attacked the doctrine, upheld in decisions since 1896, that such segregation does not necessarily violate the Constitution so long as separate facilities for Negroes and whites are substantially equal.
The brief was filed in connection with a Kansas case challenging constitutionality of the system in elementary school grades in Topeka. The Supreme Court had planned this week to hear arguments on the Kansas case as well as similar ones in Virginia and South Carolina. It postponed arguments until the week of December 8 and it indicated it would hear a District of Columbia test case at the same time.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
