What does Brown v. Board of Education rule regarding segregation?

The ruling in Brown v. Board of Education is significant because it established that "separate but equal" educational facilities for racial minorities and whites were inherently unequal, and therefore unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. This landmark decision effectively overturned the precedent set in Plessy v. Ferguson, which upheld segregation as long as the separate facilities were deemed equal.

By declaring that if the facilities are separate, they cannot be equal, the Court emphasized that segregation creates a sense of inferiority that affects the motivation of minority children to learn. This ruling had far-reaching implications for civil rights and laid the groundwork for desegregation in various public sectors, not just schools. Brown v. Board of Education fundamentally changed the landscape of American education and civil rights by asserting that equality in education must be upheld for all students, regardless of their race.