Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/22pdf/20-1199_l6gn.pdf
Page Number: 150

Cite as:  600 U. S. ____ (2023) 

11 

SOTOMAYOR, J., dissenting 

dominant,  ruling  class  of  citizens”  in  the  eyes  of  the  law. 
Id., at 559.  In that context, Justice Harlan thus announced 
his view that “[o]ur constitution is color-blind.”  Ibid. 

It was not until half a century later, in Brown, that the 
Court honored the guarantee of equality in the Equal Pro-
tection Clause and Justice Harlan’s vision of a Constitution 
that “neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens.” 
Ibid.  Considering the “effect[s] of segregation” and the role 
of education “in the light of its full development and its pre-
sent place in American life throughout the Nation,” Brown 
overruled Plessy.  347 U. S., at 492–495.  The Brown Court 
held  that  “[s]eparate  educational  facilities  are  inherently 
unequal,” and that such racial segregation deprives Black 
students “of the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by 
the Fourteenth Amendment.”  Id., at 494–495.  The Court 
thus ordered segregated schools to transition to a racially
integrated  system  of  public  education  “with  all  deliberate 
speed,”  “ordering  the  immediate  admission  of  [Black  chil-
dren]  to  schools  previously  attended  only  by  white  chil-
dren.”  Brown  v.  Board  of  Education,  349  U. S.  294,  301 
(1955). 

Brown was a race-conscious decision that emphasized the
importance  of  education  in  our  society.  Central  to  the 
Court’s holding was the recognition that, as Justice Harlan 
emphasized in Plessy, segregation perpetuates a caste sys-
tem wherein Black children receive inferior educational op-
portunities “solely because of their race,” denoting “inferi-
ority as to their status in the community.”  347 U. S., at 494, 
and n. 10.  Moreover, because education is “the very foun-
dation of good citizenship,” segregation in public education 
harms “our democratic society” more broadly as well.  Id., 
at 493.  In light of the harmful effects of entrenched racial
subordination  on  racial  minorities  and  American  democ-
racy, Brown recognized the constitutional necessity of a ra-
cially  integrated  system  of  schools  where  education  is 
“available to all on equal terms.”  Ibid.