may 18, 1896 - Plessy v. Ferguson Decided

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In 1890, the state of Louisiana passed a law that requried separate accomodations for blacks and whites on railroads. The Committee of Citizens decided to challenge the law, and asked Homer Plessy, a black man under Louisiana law, to sit in the white section and get arrested. In the ensuing court cases, Plessy's lawyers argued that Plessy was denied his rights under the 13th and 14th amendments, which provided for equal protection under the law. However, when the case got to the Supreme Court, the Court would rule that separate facilities were constitutional, as long as those facilities are equal in quality. Thus was the "separate but equal" doctrine adopted by the Supreme Court when deciding on the constitutionality of racial segregation laws, and it would contribute to the perpetuation of very unequal facilities for whites and blacks for decades to come. (Effect of event: segregation)

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