A Supreme Court refusal to hear an appeal that would allow The Citadel to remain a male-only school is discouraging.

Possibly the most divisive issue of this year, The Citadel’s continued refusal to admit female students has gone on too long. In filing its appeal, Citadel lawyers claim that an all-female college in Spartanburg, S.C., is an acceptable alternative to allowing women to attend the military college.

That attitude should send up red flags in the minds of all Americans.

The notion of providing “separate but equal” facilities or programs hasn’t surfaced since southern schools refused to integrate black students into “white” programs. Trying to separate men and women is the same concept — different issue.

What is so wrong with training future military leaders, both males and females, at the same school? They will all end up serving in the same military. Why is integrating the training process such a threat?

Apparently, the federal appeals court that ruled it was acceptable to provide separate, yet comparable, programs has forgotten Brown vs. Board of Education.

If the programs could really be “separate but equal” the decision might be a little more tolerable. But not-so-distant American history has proven that’s an impossibility.