The Nature of Prejudice shaped the reasoning behind Brown v. Board of Education.

Evidence

Gordon W. Allport died in 1967 at the age of 70. We did not know him personally. We are not his students nor are we students of his students. However, his impact on us, through The Nature of Prejudice, has been profound. We are not alone. Thomas Pettigrew, who was one of Allport’s students, described The Nature of Prejudice as “his most explicit attempt to influence public opinion” (Pettigrew, 1999, p. 415). And the volume did attract significant public attention at the time. In the Foreword to the 25th anniversary edition of The Nature of Prejudice, Pettigrew (1979) recounted, “Gordon Allport’s book was both a harbinger and a reflection of the thinking that went into the Supreme Court decision [Brown v. Board of Education, 1954]. The Nature of Prejudice is a remarkable mixture of careful scholarship and humane values” (pp. xii–xiv). — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 154