Hi. In my class we are in the Plessy V Ferguson case. I need to write a paragraph on how the decision of this case helped African Americans gain more.

Question

I am confused on the decision. In my text book, it reads "The majority rejected the argument that segregation gave Aftican Americans inferior status." I do not know what that means, none the less how that helped African Americans gain more. Please help.

Answer 1

This case established segregation of the races in "separate but equal" facilities. It helped blacks by directing that schools, institutions, etc. for blacks had to be equal to those for whites.

"The majority rejected the argument that segregation gave Aftican Americans inferior status."

This sentence means that the majority of the Supreme Court justices agreed that segregation wasn't wrong as long as the facilities were equal. They didn't believe that segregation itself would mean that blacks were inferior. They were separate, yet still equal.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plessy_v._Ferguson