What did the U.S. Supreme Court rule in Brown v. Board of Education?

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. This landmark decision, delivered in 1954, effectively overturned the previous ruling established by Plessy v. Ferguson, which upheld the "separate but equal" doctrine. The Court found that segregating public school students based solely on race created a sense of inferiority among African American children that undermined their educational opportunities. This ruling was crucial in the Civil Rights Movement, as it set a legal precedent for challenging segregation and discrimination, inspiring further legal and social progress towards equality. The Brown decision highlighted that separate educational facilities are inherently unequal, thus violating the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. This case was a pivotal moment in the fight for civil rights and laid the groundwork for future legislation and rulings aimed at desegregation.