Brown v. Board of Education

In Brown v. Board of Education the Court held that state laws establishing segregated public schools violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment because “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.”1 In so ruling, the Court overturned its 1896 decision in Plessy v. Ferguson in so far as that decision could be construed as sanctioning state-sponsored racial segregation in the public schools. The decision opened the door to the Civil Rights Movement, advanced the movement toward racial integration, and brought the nation one step closer to realizing the promise of equal rights for all of its citizens.