A Tale of Two Supreme Courts:
The Life and Death of Segregation
Directions: Read the excerpts from each Supreme Court Case below and define
any words or terms that are unfamiliar. Then, answer the questions that follow.
Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896
In 1892, a black man, Homer Plessy, boarded a Louisiana train car that was reserved for whites
only. Plessy was promptly arrested and convicted by Judge John H. Ferguson. Plessy appealed
the decision all the way to the Supreme Court
In 1896, the Supreme Court heard Plessy’s case, but ruled in favor of segregation. The Court
said separation of the races was constitutional as long as equal facilities were available for both
blacks and whites. The High Court’s majority opinion legalized Jim Crow Laws. The ruling
resulted in segregated restaurants, railcars, streetcars, waiting rooms, parks, cemeteries,
churches, hospitals, prisons, elevators, theaters, schools, public restrooms, and water fountains.
Below is exactly what the Court said in 1896:
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[Segregation] does not conflict with the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery and
involuntary servitude…. Slavery implies involuntary servitude — a state of bondage; the
ownership of mankind….
By the Fourteenth Amendment, all persons born or naturalized in the United States … are made
citizens … and the States are forbidden from making or enforcing any law which shall …
deprive any person of life, liberty, or property … or deny to any person … the equal protection
of the laws….
The [Fourteenth] Amendment … could not have been intended to abolish distinctions based
upon color, or to enforce social … equality, or a commingling of the two races…. Laws
permitting, and even requiring … separation … do not necessarily imply the inferiority of either
race to the other…. The most common instance of this is connected with … separate schools for
white and colored children, which has been held to be … valid….
We think the enforced separation of the races … neither deprives [a black man] of his property
… nor denies him the equal protection of the laws … [which is] the meaning of the Fourteenth
Amendment….
Legislation is powerless to … to abolish distinctions based upon physical differences…. If one
race be inferior to the other … the Constitution of the United States cannot put them upon the
same plane.
Brown v. The Board of Education, 1954
Despite the Supreme Court's ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson, many people continued to press for the
elimination of Jim Crow laws. One particular organization that fought for racial equality was the
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). The NAACP’s
Legal Defense and Education Fund began to turn to the courts to make progress in overcoming
legally permissible discrimination.
In 1954, the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund supported the case of Brown v. The
Board of Education, which challenged legal segregation in schools. The NAACP's chief
counsel, Thurgood Marshall—who was later appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court himself—
argued the case before the High Court. Marshall claimed that separate schools for blacks and
whites were fundamentally unequal, and thus violated the “equal protection” guarantee of the
Fourteenth Amendment. Furthermore, relying on research, such as the “doll test” performed by
Dr. Kenneth Clark, Marshall also argued that segregated schools made black children feel
inferior to white children, stamping them with a badge of inferiority.
This time, the High Court reversed its previous decision and ruled that segregation in schools is
unconstitutional.
Below is exactly what the Court said in 1954:
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Segregation of white and Negro children in the public schools … solely on the basis of race, …
denies to Negro children the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the Fourteenth
Amendment—even though the physical facilities … may be equal….
Segregation of children in public schools solely on the basis of race deprives children of the
minority group of equal educational opportunities, even though the physical facilities … may be
equal.
We come then to the question presented: Does segregation of children in public schools solely on
the basis of race … deprive the children of the minority group of equal educational
opportunities? We believe that it does.
To separate [black children] … solely because of their race generates a feeling of inferiority as to
their status in the community that may affect their hearts and minds in a way unlikely ever to be
undone.
We conclude that, in the field of public education, the [concept] of “separate but equal” has no
place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.
Questions on next page.
Answer in full sentences.
1. According to the ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson why is segregation acceptable?
In your answer, include at least one brief quote from the Supreme Court’s
decision and explain the meaning of this quote.
2. In Plessy v. Ferguson, the Supreme Court clearly said that segregation did not
violate the Constitution. In your own words, explain the Court’s reasoning.
3. The Plessy ruling states: “If one race be inferior to the other … the Constitution
of the United States cannot put them upon the same plane.” Is this a reasonable
argument? Explain.
4. How many years passed between the Plessy ruling and the decision in Brown v.
The Board of Education?
5. According the Brown decision, why is segregation so harmful to people? In
your answer, include at least one brief quote from the Supreme Court’s
decision and explain the meaning of this quote.
6. In Brown v. The Board of Education what do the justices say about separate
schools for blacks and whites? Why are such facilities unequal?
7. How did the 1954 ruling by the Supreme Court affect the 1896 ruling by the
Supreme Court?
8. In 1896 the Supreme Court ruled that segregation was constitutional, but in
1954 the Supreme Court ruled that segregation is unconstitutional. How can
something that was constitutional and perfectly legal in 1896 become
unconstitutional and entirely illegal sixty years later? What might account
for this change?
9. Why do you think that the Supreme Court played such a large role in affecting
segregation? What is it about the Supreme Court that makes its decisions so
meaningful?