The meaning of PLESSY V. FERGUSON is 163 U.S. 537 (1896), established the legality of racial segregation so long as facilities were kept 'separate but equal.' An organized challenge to Louisiana laws concerning separate rail cars for blacks and whites wa
Theartificeof “separate but equal” collapsed in 1954 with the Supreme Court caseBrownv.Board of Education of Topeka, which initiated the racial integration of the country’s public schools. In its ruling, the Court rejectedPlessyv.Fergusonentirely by considering “the effect of segregation itself...