The Northcross et al. v. Board of Education of the Memphis, Tennessee, City Schools et al., 1969 case was a significant Supreme Court decision that dealt with school desegregation in Memphis, Tennessee. The plaintiffs were African American parents who sued on behalf of their children for equal educational opportunities and facilities within the city's public schools system. They argued that despite previous court rulings mandating integration, the local board had failed to implement necessary changes to eliminate racial segregation effectively. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs stating that "the obligation of every school district is to terminate dual school systems at once and operate now and hereafter only unitary schools." This ruling reaffirmed earlier decisions such as Brown v. Board (1954) which declared separate but equal education unconstitutional under Fourteenth Amendment protections against discrimination. Furthermore, it clarified expectations for compliance with these mandates by emphasizing immediate action rather than gradual or token efforts towards desegregation.

In the dissenting opinion for Northcross et al. v. Board of Education of Memphis, Tennessee City Schools et al., Justice Hugo Black argued that the Court should not have summarily reversed a lower court's decision without hearing oral arguments or receiving briefs on the merits of the case. He believed this was particularly important given that desegregation cases were among some of the most difficult and sensitive issues facing courts at that time. Furthermore, he disagreed with his colleagues' interpretation of previous Supreme Court rulings as mandating immediate school integration; instead, he understood these decisions to require only good faith efforts towards ending segregation in public schools as quickly as possible under existing circumstances.