Brown v. Board of Education

•

The harm is intensified when such segregation is enforced by law, as the policy of separating racial groups is commonly understood to imply the inferiority of the marginalized group.

•

The plaintiffs contended that segregated public schools are not "equal" and cannot be made "equal," and that hence they are deprived of the equal protection of the laws.

•

Students of color sought admission to public schools in Kansas, South Carolina, Virginia, and Delaware on a non-segregated basis.

•

In the Delaware case, the Supreme Court of Delaware maintained the ‘separate but equal’ doctrine but ordered the plaintiffs admitted to the previously white schools because those schools were superior to the schools designated for students of color.

•

In each case, the plaintiffs alleged that segregation deprived them of equal protection of the laws under the Fourteenth Amendment.

•

Segregation of white students and students of color in public schools has a harmful effect on the students of color.

•

Legalized segregation tends to hinder the educational and psychological development of students of color, depriving them of some of the benefits they would receive in a racially integrated school system.

•

A sense of inferiority affects the motivation of a child to learn.

•

They were denied admission to schools attended by white children under laws requiring or permitting segregation according to race.

•

The schools designated for students of color and those designated for white students have been equalized, or are in the process of being equalized, regarding buildings, curricula, teacher qualifications and salaries, and other tangible factors.