but a courageous father named oliver brown was determined to give his little third grader, linda, a fair shot at a good education. these are long odds he took. mr. brown tried unsuccessfully to enroll his daughter linda in the neighborhood all-white elementary school. the school was close by, but the doors of that school were shut to little linda because she was an african-american, because of the color of her skin. it had nothing to do with her intellect. it had everything to do with the color of her skin. she was forced to walk -- a little seven-year-old girl, third grader -- to walk seven or eight blocks to a bus stop where she waited for a bus to take her to an all-black elementary school some distance away. rather than accept the status quo, the browns, and they got some other neighbors to join them, they brought a civil case against the topeka school board challenging the school's district segregation policy. this case took a long time to work up to the united states supreme court, but it got there. this case is now commonly known as brown versus board of education. it was eventual

. >> ifill: the case was named for linda brown, a third grader in topeka, kansas forced to travel moren an hour each day to an all-black elementary school, rather than attend the all-white school located just blocks from her home. government-sanctioned racial discrimination was the law of the land in 1954. the supreme court's "plessy v. ferguson" ruling half a century earlier had ruled that, as long as separate facilities were considered equal, segregation itself was not a violation the constitution's equal protection clause. but the browns-- linda and her two sisters-- who were joined by families of students in four states and the district of columbia said no. their class-action suit eventually reached the supreme court. retired baltimore public school principal john stokes was one of the original plaintiffs in the virginia case included in the brown litigation. >> it was separate, but it was never equal. >> ifill: he describes the conditions at his overcrowded all-black high school in farmville, virginia as "deplorable," with no running water or indoor plumbing, and a potbelly stove

here's an image from over half a century ago, tonight's freeze frame of nine-year-old linda brown, standingchool in kansas. brown versus board of education. 60 years ago tomorrow, that landmark ruling effectively desegregated the nation's schools and made separate but equal, unconstitutional. >> on techknow... >> so, this is the smart home... >> saving the environment >> the start point for energy efficiency, is to work with the sun... >> saving you money >> we harvest a lot of free energy >> and so we're completely off grid here >> how many of the appliances were almost a little too smart for us? >> techknow every saturday, go where science, meets humanity. >> this is some of the best driving i've ever done, even though i can't see. >>techknow >> we're here in the vortex... only on al jazeera america >> these protestors have decided that today they will be arrested >> these people have chased a president from power, they've torn down a state... >> what's clear is that people don't just need protection, they need assistance. >> this is al jazeera america, i'm john siegenthaler in new york.

linda brown's brown skin and kept her out of her school of choice and today kids are being kept out of their school of choice because of where they live. >> excellent and to follow. >> let me say i think that looking at things at s.a.t. scores is fine and i don't think schools need to look at s.a.t. scores at all if they don't want to. if they can come up with a better measure of academic qualifications and academic success i'm all for that. but you should apply those measures to everybody. you shouldn't say well we require children for students who are this color to do well on the s.a.t. and students are a different color we are going to look at other factors for them. i also think that they can't be seriously argued that schools are treating people differently on the basis of skin color and art knitting students with referred skin colors who have lower academic qualifications and that is shown by the fact that they are much more likely to flunk out and much more likely to switch majors. whatever index of success you have it correlates unsurprisingly if you admit students who have ove

they're meeting with families of the plaintiffs, including linda brown, at the time, a girl denied admission to all white neighborhood school blocks from her home. we will have that interview with her next. uhhh. no, that can't happen. that's the thing, you don't know how long it has to last. everyone has retirement questions. so ameriprise created the exclusive.. confident retirement approach. now you and your ameripise advisor can get the real answers you need. well, knowing gives you confidence. start building your confident retirement today. and we'll be here at lifelock doing our thing: you do your shop from anywhere thing, offering protection that simple credit score monitoring can't. get lifelock protection and live life free. >>> coming up, what happens when the tea party tries to replicate occupy wall street and the arab spring. that's ahead. ...and we'll replace destroyed or stolen items with brand-new versions. we take care of the heat, so you don't get burned. just another way we put members first, because we don't have shareholders. join the nation. ♪ nationwide is on your side

brown. i called linda my seventh grade teachers. she said my dear, i am sorry to tell you. we did not say a word about the brown decision. the white powers that be have forbade them to speak about it. i with the threat of losing their job for ever. i was in the seventh grade. thank goodness there were murmurings in the black community about this. there were murmurings because the oneshment killed in the south. there's not a lot of talk about this. in the end what we have been brought up in a separate place where we did not have first-class citizenship, our parents gave us a first-class sense of ourselves. that, when ther black people decided it was time something, and do they came here. the rest is history. we desegregated the university of georgia. i am happy to say that today there has been so much progress since the beginning of round return as it when i often due to the university of georgia, there are so many students saying "go dog. to the wonderful governor. his details inad the program. i will not go into the amount. and governor deval patrick. we are so proud to hav

she is the younger sister of linda brown and the daughter of oliver brown, the plaintiff from kansas. to the juncture of council chair and members of the board of the naacp legal defense fund, on behalf of my family, we regret not being able to be with you at the national press club. it is 15 q note this anniversary with a conversation with two african-american men. governor wilder and evolve patrick. it offers hope and inspiration. for my family, it was a source of pride to stand with the end of a lacie p -- naacp ldf attorneys. their action brought our nation to a crossroad of values versus clinical goals. the benefits of the goals are reflected in contemporary society. this is applied in our rights as citizens with disabilities, midlife and older adults and issues of gender neutrality. today we know the ongoing struggles are fueled by those seeking to legitimize the concepts of the 21st century ruling class. we take comfort in knowing the legal defense fund is there to speak truth to power. in 1954 when chief justice earl warren and announced the unanimous decision. we believed the

want to read you the words of cheryl brown henderson that she sent me night, the younger sister of linda brown and the daughter of oliver brown, the from kansas in the brown case. she was trying to make it here but asked if i would read this behalf. to the director counsel, chair, members of the board of the l.d.f. fund, on behalf of my inily and fellow plaintiffs brown v. board of education, we regret not being able to join you at the national press club your commemoration of this historic decision. it's fitting that you note this conversationith a with two african-american men, former governor douglas wilder massachusetts governor deval patrick, whose political inningss offer hope and inspiration. from my family and all of those involved in the five indications the brownised decision it was a source of pride to stand with the naacp attorneys who used the rule of law to topple the oppression. their actions brought our nation to a cross roads of values political goals. the benefits of their legal strategy are reflected in society.ary and how the 14th amendment is applied in the protection of o

she is the younger sister of linda brown and the daughter of oliver brown, the plaintiff from kansas. to the juncture of council chair and members of the board of the naacp legal defense fund, on behalf of my family, we regret not being able to be with you at the national press club. it is 15 q note this anniversary with a conversation with two african-american men. governor wilder and evolve patrick. it offers hope and inspiration. for my family, it was a source of pride to stand with the end of a lacie p -- naacp ldf attorneys. their action brought our nation to a crossroad of values versus clinical goals. the benefits of the goals are reflected in contemporary society. this is applied in our rights as citizens with disabilities, midlife and older adults and issues of gender neutrality. today we know the ongoing struggles are fueled by those seeking to legitimize the concepts of the 21st century ruling class. we take comfort in knowing the legal defense fund is there to speak truth to power. in 1954 when chief justice earl warren and announced the unanimous decision. we believed the

she is the younger sister of linda brown and the daughter of all of her brown, the plaintiff from kansas in the brown case. she asked if i would read this on her behalf. and the council on behalf of my family and the plaintiffs, we regret not being able to join you at this historic event. -- for mying that you family and all of those involved in the five cases that comprise the decision, it was a source of ride to stand with the attorneys who used the rule of law to topple the goliath of oppression . their actions brought our nation to a crossroads of values versus political goals. the benefits of the strategy are reflected in contemporary society, and how the 14th amendment is applied. today we know that the struggles with the meaning of the 14th amendment are fueled by those who are looking to legitimize a concept of a 21st-century ruling class. in may of 2014 we take comfort in knowing that the defense fund is there to speak truth to power. at 12:52 p.m., for brief moment we believe that the founding documents and creed of this nation would have meaning for all of us as citizens of co

the younger sister of linda and the daughter of oliver brown, the plan to from chances in the brown case she was trying to make it year bastrop read this on our behalf. to the director council chair and members of the board of the naacp legal defense fund on behalf of my family and fellow plaintiffs in brown versus board of education we regret not being able to join you at the national press club for your commemoration of this historic decision. it is fitting that you note this anniversary with a conversation with two african-american men, former governor douglas wilder and massachusetts governor duval patrick whose political successes offer hope and inspiration. for my family and all of those involved in the five cases that comprise the brown decision it was a source of pride to stand with the naacp al the attorneys to use the rule of law to topple the goliath of oppression. their actions brought our nation to a crossroads of values verses political goals, the benefits of their legal strategy are reflected in contemporary society and how the 14th amendment is applied and the protection