Part 1 of Essay
In 1896 the Supreme Court had held in Plessy v. Ferguson that racial segregation was permissible as long as equal facilities were provided for both races. Although that decision involved only passenger accommodations on a rail road, the principle of "separate but equal" was applied thereafter to all aspects of public life ....

Part 2 of Essay
.... but equal" doctrine until it decided the Brown case. In a brief, unanimous opinion delivered by Chief Justice Earl Warren, the Court declared that: "separate education facilities are inherently unequal" and that racial segregation violates the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment. In a moving passage, the chief justice argued that separating children in the schools solely on racial grounds "generates a felling of inferiority as to their status in the community that may affect their hearts and ....