RICHMOND, Va. — Attorney General Jay Jones hosted the "From Legacy to Law" program Friday to commemorate the anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, honoring one of the most important events in 20th century American history.
The landmark 1954 Supreme Court ruling reshaped the course of American education, finding that segregated schools violated the 14th Amendment and paving the way for integration.
While the case focused on the public school system in Topeka, Kansas, Jones also pointed out that students in Farmville and Prince Edward County helped make integration a reality in the commonwealth.
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"Today we honor the courage of those students and families and advocates who refused to accept that inequality was inevitable," Jones said. "Because of their courage, doors that have long been closed were finally opened for countless families across Virginia and across the United States of America."
While complete desegregation took years in the Commonwealth, it finally fully happened in Virginia schools in the early 1970s.
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