Which case addressed desegregation of education and the elimination of legal segregation in public schools?

• A. Brown v. Board of Education
• B. Dred Scott v. Sandford
• C. Obergefell v. Hodges
• D. Plessy v. Ferguson

Answer: (A)

Desegregation in public education and the end of legal segregation in schools is the focus. Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954) held that separate educational facilities are inherently unequal and thus unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. This ruling rejected the idea that segregated schools could be equal and declared that racially segregated public schools violate constitutional rights, launching a process of desegregation across the nation, though actual changes came gradually and faced resistance. The other cases deal with different issues: Dred Scott v. Sandford concerned citizenship and slavery; Plessy v. Ferguson established the “separate but equal” doctrine that supported segregation; and Obergefell v. Hodges addressed recognition of same-sex marriage.