To what extent was the US Supreme Court successful in challenging segregation in education?

The question requires that candidates consider the merits or otherwise of the suggestion that the US Supreme Court was successful in challenging segregation in education. Candidates may refer to the Brown v. Board of Education (1954); Brown II (1955) and Swann v. Mecklenburg (1971) Supreme Court cases; as well as Eisenhower’s intervention at Little Rock Central High, (based on the Brown decision), as responsible for public school integration reaching approximately 45 % by 1988. Other relevant factors may be addressed, for example candidates may also argue that the Supreme Court’s lack of enforcement power, “white flight” to private schools and Southern “massive resistance” to integration limited the advancement of integration, but with a focus on the issue in the question. Candidates’ opinions or conclusions will be presented clearly and supported by appropriate evidence.

The question required that candidates consider the merits or otherwise of the suggestion that the US Supreme Court was successful in challenging segregation in education. Without doubt, this was the most popular selection of the session. Not all candidates limited their focus to education, instead discussing the broad parameters of the civil rights movement. Still, there were candidates who exhibited a very focused and thorough assessment that usually found the Supreme Court as having only moderate success due to Southern resistance that substantially delayed integration. More mediocre responses tended to apply only the Brown case and perhaps the events of the Little Rock crisis.