Plessey vs Ferguson

Plessy v. Ferguson case where the doctrine, “separate but equal” was held. The Supreme Court decision held that racial segregation is constitutional. This paved the way for repressive Jim Crow laws in the south.

The Court soon extended Plessey to uphold segregated schools. In Berea College v. Kentucky, 211 U.S. 45 (1908), the Court upheld a Kentucky statute that barred Berea College, a private institution, from teaching both black and white students in an integrated setting. Many states, particularly in the South, took Plessey and Berea as blanket approval for restrictive laws, generally known as Jim Crow laws, that created second-class status for African-Americans.