Declared that separate educational facilities are inherently unequal?

On May 17, 1954, in their unanimous decision in the case of Brown vs. Board of Education (Oliver L. Brown, et al. vs. the Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, et al.), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the racial segregation of school students is unconstitutional.

On May 18, 1896, in their decision in the case of Plessy vs. Ferguson, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that it is not a violation of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution to provide accommodations to whites only as long as accommodations of equal quality were also provided for blacks. This became known as the "separate but equal" doctrine. However, in the Brown v. Bd. of Ed. decision 58 years later, the Court determined that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal."

"Does segregation of children in public schools solely on the basis of race, even though the physical facilities and other "tangible" factors may be equal, deprive the children of the minority group of equal educational opportunities? We believe that it does... Segregation of white and colored children in public schools has a detrimental effect upon the colored children. The impact is greater when it has the sanction of the law, for the policy of separating the races is usually interpreted as denoting the inferiority of the negro group. A sense of inferiority affects the motivation of a child to learn. Segregation with the sanction of law, therefore, has a tendency to [retard] the educational and mental development of negro children and to deprive them of some of the benefits they would receive in a racial[ly] integrated school system... We conclude that, in the field of public education, the doctrine of "separate but equal" has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal. Therefore, we hold that the plaintiffs and others similarly situated for whom the actions have been brought are, by reason of the segregation complained of, deprived of the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment." - U.S. Supreme Court, May 17, 1954