In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Brown. The Court found the practice of segregation unconstitutional and refused to apply its decision in Plessy v. Ferguson to “the field of public education.” Chief Justice Earl Warren wrote the opinion for the Court.
The Court noted that public education was central to American life. Calling it “the very foundation of good citizenship,” they acknowledged that public education was necessary to prepare children for their future professions. The justices found it very unlikely that a child would be able to succeed in life without a good education. Access to a good education was “a right which must be made available to all on equal terms.”
Departing from the Court’s earlier decision in Plessy, the justices here argued that separating children solely on the basis of race created a feeling of inferiority in the “hearts and minds” of black children. Segregating children in public education created and continued the idea that black children held a lower status in the community than white children, even if their separate educational facilities were basically equal. The Court concluded that “separate education facilities are inherently unequal”, the Supreme Court ruled that segregation in public education denied black children the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment.
Brown v. Board of Education reversed the decision made in Plessy v. Ferguson and had a large impact throughout the United States. It was no longer legal to have segregated schools and the decision led to ending the practice of “separate but equal” in other public places throughout the nation.
