Brown v. Board of Education was decided in which year?

• A. 1955
• B. 1954
• C. 1957
• D. 1956

Answer: (B)

Brown v. Board of Education addressed whether public schools could be racially segregated. The Supreme Court handed down the decision in 1954, on May 17, stating that racial segregation in public education violates the Equal Protection Clause and that “separate is not equal.” This overturned the long-standing Plessy v. Ferguson rule from 1896 and marked a turning point in civil rights by establishing that separate educational facilities are inherently unequal. The year 1954 is the correct one because that is when the ruling was issued, setting the stage for subsequent desegregation efforts, such as Brown II in 1955. The other years listed relate to later events in the desegregation process (for example, Brown II and the ensuing events in the late 1950s) rather than the original decision year.