The landmark legislation that provided for desegregation in American schools is the Brown v. Board of Education decision, delivered by the Supreme Court in 1954. This landmark case declared that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional, overturning the "separate but equal" doctrine established by Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896. The Court's decision was based on the principle that segregated educational facilities were inherently unequal, and thus violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. Brown v. Board not only played a critical role in the Civil Rights Movement by inspiring further actions against segregation but also set a precedent for subsequent desegregation efforts across the U.S.