Final answer:
Both the Plessy and Brown cases dealt with segregation legality, but the Brown ruling overturned Plessy's 'separate but equal' doctrine by declaring segregated schools inherently unequal.
Step-by-step explanation:
True for Both Plessy and Brown Cases
Both the Plessy v. Ferguson and Brown v. Board of Education cases share a focus on the constitutionality of segregation. The Plessy case, although it upheld segregation under the 'separate but equal' doctrine, included a provision that later became a basis for civil rights lawsuits with the requirement that segregated facilities be equal.
Conversely, the Brown case recognized the inherent inequality of segregation in public schools, noting that no matter the attempts at equalizing facilities, the separation itself was detrimental to African American children and inherently unequal, thus overturning the Plessy decision and making school segregation unconstitutional.
Supreme Court Assumptions in Brown Case
When the Supreme Court made its decision in the Brown case, it assumed as false the notion that 'separate but equal' could ever really be equal in the context of public education.
The decision also rested on social science studies that showed racial discrimination engendered feelings of inferiority among African American children, something that could only be countered through the integration of public schools.