| In what sense did the Court find
segregated schools
"inherently unequal"? Was this the best ground for the decision? Was it a problem with facilities, salaries, or standards? ---Court says no, accepting lower court findings: "Here there are findings below that the Negro and white schools involved have been equalized, or are being equalized, with respect to buildings, curricula, qualifications and salaries of teachers, and other "tangible" factors. Our decision, therefore, cannot turn on merely a comparison of these tangible factors in the Negro and white schools involved in each of the cases." Court says segregation generates "feelings of inferiority," "affects motivation," and "retards the educational and mental development of Negro children." ---How does the Court know that? ---What if later studies cast doubt upon those findings? Conclusion of Court: "We conclude that in the field of public education the doctrine of "separate but equal" has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal." Any better ground for decision? ---First Amendment freedom of association of both white and black students? |