In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the Brown v. Board of Education decision (Brown I) that separate schools for White and Black children were inherently unequal. This landmark court decision, interpreting the equal protection of the laws clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, called for the end of racial discrimination in education; however, the means to achieve the integration of schools were not specified. The Supreme Court decided in 1955 to solicit arguments from the Attorney General of the United States and the Attorneys General of all states requiring or permitting racial discrimination in public education. The parties presented their views on the question of how they might implement the decree and included, in addition to the U.S. Attorney General, ...