What was the outcome of Brown v. Board of Education?

• A. Segregation in public schools allowed
• B. The Supreme Court ruled segregation in education unconstitutional
• C. The ruling applied only to colleges
• D. It led to immediate nationwide integration within a year

Answer: (B)

The ruling centers on the idea that separating students by race in public schools violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. The Court declared that “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal,” so state laws creating racially segregated schools could not be constitutional. This overturned the earlier Plessy v. Ferguson standard of “separate but equal” in education and established that segregation in public schools is unconstitutional. The decision was meant to apply to public schools nationwide, not only in a single state or to colleges. It didn’t bring immediate nationwide integration within a year; desegregation followed more slowly, with further rulings and resistance in many areas.