Which Supreme Court ruling declared segregation in public schools unconstitutional?

• A. Plessy v. Ferguson
• B. Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
• C. Roe v. Wade
• D. Dred Scott v. Sandford

Answer: (B)

Brown v. Board of Education (1954) is the ruling that declared segregation in public schools unconstitutional by signaling that separate educational facilities are inherently unequal and thus violate the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. This decision overturned the earlier Plessy v. Ferguson ruling, which had allowed “separate but equal” facilities and provided a legal shield for racial segregation. The other cases listed address different issues—Roe v. Wade concerns abortion rights, and Dred Scott v. Sandford concerns citizenship and slavery before the Civil War—so they do not directly relate to public school desegregation. Brown became a pivotal moment in the civil rights era, setting the legal groundwork for desegregation and challenging the legitimacy of racial separation in American life.