What was the Supreme Court’s decision in the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson case?

Answer 1

In the 1896 case of Plessy v. Ferguson, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation laws, establishing the "separate but equal" doctrine. The Court ruled that state laws requiring racial segregation in public facilities were permissible as long as the separate facilities for the different races were equal. This decision effectively legalized racial segregation and discrimination, reinforcing systemic racism in the United States until it was eventually overturned by later rulings, particularly Brown v. Board of Education in 1954.