Which case marked a turning point in civil rights by contradicting the doctrine of "separate but equal"?

Brown v. Board of Education is significant because it directly addressed and overturned the legal foundation laid by Plessy v. Ferguson, which endorsed the "separate but equal" doctrine. In Brown v. Board of Education, decided in 1954, the Supreme Court held that racial segregation in public schools violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Court concluded that separate educational facilities are inherently unequal, thus dismantling the legal basis for segregation in schools and marking a pivotal moment in the civil rights movement.

This ruling not only challenged the status quo of racial segregation but also provided a framework for challenging other forms of institutionalized discrimination. The decision played a critical role in countering the limitations imposed by previous rulings that had upheld segregation, demonstrating the Court's willingness to reconsider its past decisions in the context of evolving social standards and the fundamental principle of equality.