In addition, the Brown decision set a precedent for the NAACP and other black civil rights organizations. Throughout the 1950s and early 1960s, the Supreme Court was exceptionally receptive to civil rights battles at a time when other government agencies, to say nothing of public opinion, were reluctant if not hostile to the struggle. Therefore, it was common for civil rights leaders to fight their battles through the courts rather than to fight for new legislation or local ordinances. With Brown, the courts became the arena of the civil rights movement.
The response to the decision also provided a blueprint that much of the rest of the civil rights movement would follow. While the courts were willing to listen and deliberate, they were proved to be ahead of their time by the reaction of both President Eisenhower and the general public. In Eisenhower's unwillingness to enforce the Court's decision except in the most dire circumstances, and in the swell of racial violence that erupted after the decision, especially in the South, could be seen the lag between American Law and American Culture. While the Law was willing to grant equality, the culture was not. The slow pace of desegregation--and the incredible violence it met with--was proof positive that much work would have to be done before civil rights, at least as defined by the Brown decision, would become a reality.
Finally, the Montgomery boycott gave the early civil rights movement a peek at figures that would prove to be instrumental later--namely Martin Luther King, Jr., who was widely praised for his patience, dedication, and strategies of non-violence.
