Plessy v. Ferguson — Separate But Equal
The Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation was constitutional as long as facilities were 'separate but equal' — a decision that legally entrenched Jim Crow for nearly 60 years.
What Happened
Homer Plessy was arrested for sitting in a whites-only railroad car in Louisiana in a test case organized by civil rights advocates. The Supreme Court ruled 7-1 that separate facilities for different races were constitutional under the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause, as long as they were 'equal.' Justice John Marshall Harlan, in a famous dissent, wrote that 'our Constitution is color-blind.' The decision legitimized the system of Jim Crow laws — legal racial segregation — that would define Southern life for the next six decades.
Why It Mattered Then
Plessy v. Ferguson gave constitutional cover to systematic racial oppression. It allowed Southern states to build an entire legal and social infrastructure of segregation that disadvantaged Black Americans in every aspect of life.
Why It Matters Now
Plessy v. Ferguson was overturned by Brown v. Board of Education in 1954. Its legacy — and the 60 years of institutionalized segregation it enabled — directly shaped the civil rights movement and the conditions that civil rights legislation was designed to address.
Key Themes
This event is part of the 1877–1914: Industrial America and Reform era (1877–1914).
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