About

Board of Education was a landmark United States Supreme Court case in which the court declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students to be unconstitutional. The case was brought forward by thirteen African American parents on behalf of their children who were attending segregated schools in Kansas. The plaintiffs argued that the doctrine of "separate but equal" established by the 1896 case Plessy v. Ferguson was inherently unequal and violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Supreme Court unanimously agreed with the plaintiffs, ruling that segregation in public education solely based on race was inherently unequal and deprived black students of equal educational opportunities. This ruling overturned the "separate but equal" doctrine of Plessy v. Ferguson and paved the way for desegregation efforts in schools across the United States. The decision was a major victory for the civil rights movement and a significant step towards achieving racial equality in the United States.