<P> In Brown v. Board of Education , 347 U.S. 483 ( 1954 ) , attorneys for the NAACP referred to the phrase `` equal but separate '' used in Plessy v. Ferguson as a custom de jure racial segregation enacted into law . The NAACP , led by the soon - to - be first black Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall , was successful in challenging the constitutional viability of the separate but equal doctrine , and the court voted to overturn sixty years of law that had developed under Plessy . The Supreme Court outlawed segregated public education facilities for blacks and whites at the state level . The companion case of Bolling v. Sharpe , 347 U.S. 497 outlawed such practices at the Federal level in the District of Columbia . The court held : </P>
<P> In Brown v. Board of Education , 347 U.S. 483 ( 1954 ) , attorneys for the NAACP referred to the phrase `` equal but separate '' used in Plessy v. Ferguson as a custom de jure racial segregation enacted into law . The NAACP , led by the soon - to - be first black Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall , was successful in challenging the constitutional viability of the separate but equal doctrine , and the court voted to overturn sixty years of law that had developed under Plessy . The Supreme Court outlawed segregated public education facilities for blacks and whites at the state level . The companion case of Bolling v. Sharpe , 347 U.S. 497 outlawed such practices at the Federal level in the District of Columbia . The court held : </P>
who led the team that challenged the separate but equal ruling
who led the team that challenged the separate but equal ruling
Thurgood Marshall
Thurgood Marshall