The Supreme Court played an important role in both suppressing and aiding the civil rights movement. However, the decisions taken by the President, the persistence of the white opposition and the improvement of media communication have also had an effect. Although all were important, the civil rights movement alone would have achieved the same goal without the aid of the Supreme Court, and the dedication of its many members and leaders is the major factor in the advancement of civil rights. The Supreme Court is perhaps the best known. for the Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954. In declaring that segregation in schools was unconstitutional, Kevern Verney asserts that a "direct reversal of the Plessy decision..."1 58 years earlier was affected. It was Plessy who gave the Southern states the power to continue persecuting African Americans for the next sixty years. The first positive aspect of Brown was the effective integration of white and black students in the schools. Unfortunately, this has not been achieved to an adequate extent, and many local authorities do not feel obliged to change the status quo. The Supreme Court did issue a second decision, called Brown 2, in 1955. This one put forward the idea that integration should proceed "with all deliberate speed," but James T. Patterson tells us that in 1964, “only about 1.2% of the total population” black children… attended public schools with white children”2. This demonstrates that even though the Supreme Court worked in favor of civil rights, it was still incapable of forcing change. Rathbone agrees, saying the Supreme Court "has not done enough to ensure compliance."3 However, Patterson goes on to say that "the affair had some impact"4. He explains how the decision, although often ignored, acted "relatively quickly in most border cases...in the middle of the day." 23 Mark Rathbone, The United States Supreme Court and Civil Rights, History Today. 24 James T. Patterson, The Troubled Legacy of Brown v. Board, p. 10. 25 Mark Rathbone, The United States Supreme Court and Civil Rights, History Today. 26 The Troubled Legacy of Brown v. Board, James T. Patterson, p. 6. 27 Martha Gellhorn, Justice at Night, The Spectator 1936 28 Douglas A. Blackmon, Slavery by Another Name, p.7 29 Paterson and Willoughby, Civil Rights in the USA, 1863-1980, p.200. 30 Douglas A. Blackmon, Slavery by Any Other Name, p.53. 31 Mark Rathbone, 20th Century History Review, American Presidency. 32 Mark Rathbone, 20th Century History Review, American Presidency. 33 Clive Webb, Review of Modern History, Ku Klux Klan. 34 Clive Webb, Review of Modern History, Ku Klux Klan. 35 John A. Kirk, History Toady volume 52 number 2, The Long Road to Equality for African Americans