In the case of Ellis v. Dixon et al., members of the Board of Education of the City of Yonkers, a group led by plaintiff Thelma Ellis challenged racial segregation in public schools in Yonkers, New York. The plaintiffs argued that their children were being denied equal protection under law due to racially discriminatory practices within the school district which resulted in de facto segregation. They sought an injunction against these practices and requested that they be declared unconstitutional. However, both lower courts dismissed their claims on grounds that there was no evidence showing intentional discrimination or any state action causing such segregation. When appealed to Supreme Court, it declined to review this decision without providing any specific reasoning for its denial.

The dissenting opinion in the Ellis v. Dixon case argued that the majority's decision to uphold a New York law mandating racial segregation in public schools was fundamentally flawed. The dissenters contended that this ruling contradicted previous Supreme Court decisions, which had established that state-imposed racial segregation violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. They further asserted that there was no compelling evidence demonstrating any educational benefits from segregated schooling; rather, such policies served only to perpetuate harmful stereotypes and social divisions based on race. In their view, it was not enough for states merely to provide separate but equal facilities; they must also ensure equal opportunities for all students regardless of their race or ethnicity.