The decision of whether the Fourteenth Amendment makes "separate but equal" schools unconstitutional, reduces down to the question: does a segregated school system conform to one's ideal of equality?

A Merriam family and teacher fought segregation in schools, challenging inequality years before Brown v. Board.

We at the National Association of Scholars (NAS) recently launched Separate but Equal, Again ... we found that 42 percent offer segregated residences, 46 percent offer segregated orientation ...

The ruling in Plessy v Ferguson was the start of the ‘separate-but-equal’ principle. This led to more segregation on transportation, in entertainment venues, in factories and at other places ...