Kelly v. Board of Education paved way to Nashville school desegregation

By Ivan Sanchez In a landmark ruling on February 18, 1958, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee mandated the Nashville Board of Education to overhaul its desegregation plan, underscoring the federal judiciary’s critical role in enforcing constitutional principles against racial segregation in public schools. The case, Robert W. Kelly et al. v. Board of Education of City of Nashville, was initiated in 1955 by Black families determined to dismantle the city’s segregated school system. Represented by prominent civil rights attorney Thurgood Marshall and local advocates, the plaintiffs sought a court order to end racial discrimination and ensure equal access to public education for Black students. Initially, the defendants, including members of the Board of Education and school officials, conceded the unconstitutionality of Tennessee’s segregation laws. However, they argued for a gradual transition to integration. The court’s intervention in 1956 resulted in a partial approval of the board’s plan, which mandated desegregation only for first-grade students, leaving other grades segregated. By late 1957, the board submitted a new desegregation plan that included options for separate schools based on racial preferences alongside integrated schools. However, the court rejected this plan in January 1958, deeming it inadequate and contrary...