The passage below is from the U. S. Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education (1954).

Segregation of white and colored children in public schools has a detrimental
effect upon the colored children. The impact is greater when it has the sanction
of the law, for the policy of separating the races is usually interpreted as
denoting the inferiority of the African-American] group We conclude
that, in the field of public education, the doctrine of separate but equal has
no place.

What was the impact of this reasoning by the U. S. Supreme Court?

A. Racial segregation was discontinued in public elementary schools but
continued in higher grades.

B. Southern states were forced to end all racial segregation in public
schools.

C. Southern states were required to ensure the economic and social equality
of all races.

D. Southern states could maintain separate schools for African-American
and white children if they were of equal quality.