To separate [children in grade and high schools] from others of similar age and qualifications solely because of their race generates a feeling of inferiority as to their status in the community that may affect their hearts and minds in a way unlikely ever to be undone. . . .

"We conclude that in the field of public education the doctrine of 'separate but equal' has no place. Separate education facilities are inherently unequal.

 It never ceases to amaze me that the courts are so willing to assume that anything that is predominantly black must be inferior.... [He expressed disdain for] the theory that black students suffer an unspecified psychological harm from segregation that retards their mental and educational development. This approach not only relies upon questionable social science research rather than constitutional principle, but it also rests on an assumption of black inferiority. (285)

Black schools can function as the center and symbol of black communities, and provide examples of independent black leadership, success and achievement. [The ‘racial isolation’ of blacks] is not a harm; only state enforced segregation is.…If separation itself is a harm, and if integration therefore is the only way that blacks can receive a proper education, then there must be something inferior about blacks. Under this theory, segregation injures blacks because blacks, when left on their own, cannot achieve. To my way of thinking, that conclusion is the result of jurisprudence based upon a theory of black inferiority.