Plessy Upholds 'Separate But Equal': Decades of Legalized Racism
The U.S. Supreme Court validates the "separate but equal" doctrine, instantly legalizing state-sponsored racial segregation across the South. This ruling dismantles any federal barrier to Jim Crow laws for over half a century, entrenching a system of institutionalized inequality that defines American life until the mid-20th century.
May 18, 1896
130 years ago
Key Figures & Places
United States Supreme Court
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Plessy v. Ferguson
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separate but equal
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Supreme Court of the United States
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Plessy v. Ferguson
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Separate but equal
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Melville Fuller
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Racial segregation
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Southern United States
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History of the United States
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