> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://america-250.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

> The decision declaring racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional.

<Note>
  **Citation:** 347 U.S. 483 (1954) · **Court:** Warren Court · **Vote:** Unanimous
</Note>

## Holding

Racial segregation in public schools violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Court rejected the "separate but equal" doctrine of *Plessy v. Ferguson* in the context of public education.

## Background

The case consolidated several lawsuits challenging school segregation, led by the NAACP and Thurgood Marshall (later a Supreme Court justice). It was named for Oliver Brown, whose daughter was denied admission to a white school near her home in Topeka, Kansas.

## The Decision

Chief Justice Earl Warren wrote for a unanimous Court:

> "We conclude that, in the field of public education, the doctrine of 'separate but equal' has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal."

The Court found that segregation generated a feeling of inferiority that harmed children's educational and personal development.

## Significance

*Brown* was a turning point in American history and a catalyst for the civil rights movement. A follow-up decision in 1955 (*Brown II*) ordered desegregation "with all deliberate speed," though resistance delayed implementation for years.

## Source

Read the full opinion at the [Library of Congress](https://www.loc.gov/item/usrep347483/) or the [U.S. National Archives](https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/brown-v-board-of-education).