Final answer:
The Supreme Court's unanimous decision in Brown v. Board of Education declared 'separate but equal' unconstitutional in the context of public education, backed by the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, signaling the end of legal segregation in schools.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka in 1954 deemed the "separate but equal" doctrine unconstitutional in the realm of public education. This ruling was a pivotal moment in the civil rights movement, signifying the end of de jure segregation in public schools. The court ruled unanimously, stating that segregated schools, even with equivalent funding and facilities, could not provide equal educational opportunities. Social science studies indicated that segregation engendered a sense of inferiority among Black children which could not be overcome as long as separate schools for different races existed. The ruling leveraged the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, highlighting that separate educational facilities were inherently unequal.
The decision directly overturned Plessy v. Ferguson, removing legal backing for segregated schools nationwide. Chief Justice Earl Warren concisely pronounced that "separate is inherently unequal." The NAACP, led by attorney Thurgood Marshall, played a crucial role using psychological studies to demonstrate the detrimental impacts of segregated schools on Black children's self-esteem. Ultimately, the Supreme Court acknowledged that segregation was not only educationally deleterious but also constitutionally impermissible.