Separate But Equal: Understanding The Law's Historical Context

The separate but equal doctrine was a legal principle in the United States that allowed racial segregation as long as the facilities provided to each race were equal. This doctrine was confirmed in the Plessy v. Ferguson Supreme Court decision of 1896, which allowed state-sponsored segregation. The phrase separate but equal comes from a Louisiana law of 1890, which required railroads to provide equal but separate accommodations for white and black passengers. The Plessy v. Ferguson case arose when Homer Plessy, a man of mixed race, purchased a train ticket to travel within Louisiana and took a seat in a car reserved for white passengers. After he refused to move to a car for African Americans, he was arrested and charged with violating Louisiana's Separate Car Act. The Supreme Court's decision in Plessy v. Ferguson formalized the legal principle of separate but equal, requiring railway companies to provide equal but separate accommodations for white and black passengers. This doctrine was used to assess the constitutionality of racial segregation laws until 1954, when it was overruled by the Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education, which stated that separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.

The Supreme Court's interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment

The Fourteenth Amendment was added in 1868, and it extended liberties and rights granted by the Bill of Rights to formerly enslaved people. It also granted citizenship to "all persons born or naturalized in the United States".

The Fourteenth Amendment contains several key clauses:

• Citizenship Clause: All people born or naturalized in the United States are citizens of the United States and have every right belonging to citizens.
• Privileges or Immunities Clause: States cannot make laws that take away the fundamental rights enjoyed by all people.
• Due Process Clause: States cannot take away a person's fundamental rights without following the necessary and proper legal steps.
• Equal Protection Clause: States must treat all people within their legal systems the same way they treat other individuals in the same or similar situation.

Despite what these amendments said, the government has not always followed them as intended. The rights stated in the Fourteenth Amendment have faced countless challenges in the court system.

In 1896, the Supreme Court ruled in Plessy v. Ferguson that the Constitution allowed for segregation, as long as it was "separate but equal". This decision was based on the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Court held that the state law was constitutional, and that separate treatment did not imply the inferiority of African Americans.

However, it's important to note that Justice John Marshall Harlan dissented from the majority opinion in Plessy v. Ferguson, stating that "our Constitution is color-blind and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens."

In 1954, the Supreme Court reversed the "separate but equal" doctrine in Brown v. Board of Education, ruling that racial segregation in schools was unconstitutional and stating that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal". This decision brought life to the Fourteenth Amendment and became a cornerstone of the social justice movement of the 1950s and 1960s.

The Plessy v. Ferguson case

The case made its way to the US Supreme Court, which, in an infamous 7-1 decision, ruled that the Separate Car Act was constitutional. In the majority opinion, authored by Justice Henry Billings Brown, the Court held that the state law did not violate the Thirteenth or Fourteenth Amendments. The Thirteenth Amendment, the Court argued, applied only to slavery, and the Fourteenth Amendment was intended to give African Americans political and civil equality, not social equality, with white people.

The Court's decision in Plessy v. Ferguson formalized the legal principle of "separate but equal," which allowed state-sponsored segregation. This doctrine held that as long as the facilities provided to each race were equal, state and local governments could require the segregation of services, facilities, housing, medical care, education, employment, and transportation. In practice, however, the facilities provided to African Americans were rarely equal and were often inferior or non-existent.

The "separate but equal" doctrine was eventually overturned by the US Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education (1954), which ruled that racial segregation in schools was unconstitutional. This decision marked the end of the "separate but equal" era, but the implementation of desegregation was a long and contentious process that lasted through much of the 20th century.

The separate but equal doctrine

The "separate but equal" doctrine was a legal doctrine in United States constitutional law, which held that racial segregation did not violate the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which guaranteed "equal protection" under the law to all people. This doctrine was confirmed in the Plessy v. Ferguson Supreme Court decision of 1896, which allowed state-sponsored segregation.

The phrase "separate but equal" was derived from a Louisiana law of 1890, which required railroads to provide "equal but separate accommodations for the white and coloured races". This law was challenged by Homer Plessy, who refused to move from a seat reserved for whites and was arrested. The case of Plessy v. Ferguson eventually reached the Supreme Court, which ruled that segregation in America was constitutional.

The "separate but equal" doctrine held that as long as the facilities provided to each race were equal, state and local governments could require that services, facilities, public accommodations, housing, medical care, education, employment, and transportation be segregated by race. In practice, however, the facilities provided to African Americans were rarely equal, and were usually inferior or non-existent.

The "separate but equal" doctrine was used to assess the constitutionality of racial segregation laws until 1954, when it was overruled by the Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education. This decision held that racial segregation of children in public schools violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, and that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal".

The Civil Rights Act of 1875

The Reconstruction era ended with the resolution of the 1876 presidential election, and the Civil Rights Act of 1875 was the last federal civil rights law enacted until the Civil Rights Act of 1957. The act was not effectively enforced, partly because President Grant had wanted a different law to help him suppress election-related violence against blacks and Republicans in the South. Public opinion was opposed to the act, with only the black community in support.

In 1883, the Supreme Court ruled in the Civil Rights Cases that the public accommodation sections of the act were unconstitutional, stating that the Fourteenth Amendment did not give the federal government the power to prohibit discrimination by private individuals and organizations. The Court also held that the Thirteenth Amendment was meant to eliminate "the badge of slavery" but not to prohibit racial discrimination in public accommodations. The Civil Rights Act of 1875 was the last major piece of legislation related to Reconstruction passed by Congress during the Reconstruction era.

The Supreme Court's reversal in 1954

In 1954, the Supreme Court reversed the "separate but equal" doctrine in the landmark case of Brown v. Board of Education. This case was a combination of five cases involving segregation at public schools in Kansas, Delaware, Virginia, South Carolina, and Washington, D.C. The Supreme Court unanimously ruled that segregation in public schools is unconstitutional, stating that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal."

The decision was influenced by UNESCO's 1950 Statement, The Race Question, Gunnar Myrdal's An American Dilemma: The Negro Problem and Modern Democracy, and the research performed by the educational psychologists Kenneth B. Clark and Mamie Phipps Clark. The Court also quoted the Kansas court, which held that "segregation of white and colored children in public schools has a detrimental effect upon the colored children."

The Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education was a significant moment in the civil rights movement, reversing decades of segregation laws and practices. However, the implementation of the changes required by this decision was a long and challenging process, lasting through the 1950s, 1960s, and beyond.

Frequently asked questions