Which case resolved that school districts must desegregate with 'all deliberate speed'?

• A. Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
• B. Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education (1971)
• C. Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978)
• D. Brown v. Board of Education II (1955)

Answer: (D)

Desegregation timelines after a landmark ruling. Brown v. Board of Education II held that school districts must desegregate with “all deliberate speed,” balancing the constitutional obligation to end segregation with the practical realities local districts faced. The 1954 decision declared segregation unconstitutional; Brown II, issued a year later, directed courts and schools to move promptly but allowed flexibility for local conditions, signaling that delay would not be acceptable even as it avoided a single nationwide deadline. This guidance shaped how the desegregation mandate was carried out in the following years.

The other cases address different questions: Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg focused on remedies for achieving integration, notably busing, rather than setting a desegregation timetable; Regents of the University of California v. Bakke dealt with affirmative action in higher education; the original Brown decision established the unconstitutionality of racial segregation in public schools but did not specify the timeframe for desegregation.