In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its groundbreaking ruling in Brown v. Board of Education, declaring that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. The decision marked a pivotal moment in the American civil rights movement, as it sought to dismantle the long-standing legal framework that upheld segregation under the 'separate but equal' doctrine established by Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896. However, the Court did not specify a timeline for enforcing this significant change. Consequently, various school districts and local governments struggled with compliance, leading to delays and insufficient action toward desegregation. In response to these challenges, the Court convened for a subsequent ruling on May 31, 1955, which aimed to clarify its mandate regarding the implementation of desegregation. The Court's directive called for an enforcement of school desegregation at 'all deliberate speed,' a phrase that underscored the urgency of desegregation while also allowing for flexibility in how quickly individual districts could move to comply. This ruling was critical as it acknowledged the resistant attitudes that many southern states held towards the initial decision and set the stage for more aggressive federal oversight in the upcoming years.