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How did Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka change public school segregation in the United States?

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A person ascends the steps of the west facade of the United States Supreme Court Building in Washington, D.C., with its tall columns and a round fountain in the foreground. — Supreme Court of the United States The west facade of the U.S. Supreme Court building, Washington, D.C.

In the landmark 1954 case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional.12

The decision fundamentally changed the legal landscape by overturning the "separate but equal" doctrine established by Plessy v. Ferguson. The Court declared that separate educational facilities are inherently unequal, as they violate the Fourteenth Amendment by denying equal protection under the law. The justices concluded that forcing children into segregated schools solely based on race created feelings of inferiority that hindered their educational opportunities.132

While the ruling specifically addressed public schools, it served as a critical catalyst for the American civil rights movement, implying that segregation in other public facilities was also unconstitutional. Although the Court later ordered integration to proceed "with all deliberate speed," implementation was met with intense resistance, including violent protests and the creation of private, segregated academies to circumvent the ruling.124