Opinion of the Court

In the first few cases in the Supreme Court, they interpreted the Fourteenth Amendment as proscribing all state-imposed discriminations against the Negro race. The doctrine of

"separate but equal" did not make its appearance in this Court until 1896 in the case of Plessy v. Ferguson, involving not education but transportation.

In more recent cases, inequality was found when specific benefits were enjoyed by white students, but were denied to Negro students of the same educational qualifications.

In these days, it is doubtful that any child may reasonably be expected to succeed in life if he is denied the opportunity of an education.  We come then to the question presented: 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.