Which Supreme Court ruling declared that segregation in public schools unconstitutional?

• A. Plessy v. Ferguson
• B. Brown v. Board of Education
• C. Dred Scott v. Sanford
• D. Roe v. Wade

Answer: (B)

The key idea here is recognizing a turning point in civil rights where the Court rejected racial separation in schools as constitutional. Brown v. Board of Education (1954) ruled that public school segregation violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment because separate facilities are inherently unequal. This decision overturned the earlier precedent from Plessy v. Ferguson, which had upheld “separate but equal” facilities and allowed segregation. Brown’s conclusion helped propel desegregation of schools and became a milestone for the broader Civil Rights Movement. In contrast, the other cases rely on different issues: Plessy v. Ferguson established the justification for segregation, Dred Scott v. Sanford dealt with citizenship and slavery, and Roe v. Wade concerns abortion rights.