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Brown versus Board of Education
Landmark decision of the U. S. Supreme Court (1954) that affirmed the constitutional guarantee of equal opportunity in education. Arguing that the doctrine of "separate but equal" facilities had no place in the American system of education, the court ruled that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional.
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In Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), the Supreme Court ruled (8 to 1) that despite the guarantees of equal protection under the law provided by the thireenth and fourteenth amendments to the U. S. Constitution, separate facilities for whites and blacks were permissible so long as they were equal. This decision permitted "Jim Crow" laws to extend across the entire South, not only permitting but requiring racial separation in all aspects of public life, including education.
In Brown, the court reversed this decision, ruling that separate facilities were inherently unequal. Although the decision respected only public education, it paved the way for later legislation and court decisions that outlawed other forms of racial segregation.
