It noted that racial segregation was constitutional under the separate but equal doctrine. The court reasoned that the Fourteenth amendment was intended to secure the legal equality of African Americans and not their social equality. This decision allowed state sanctioned segregation. The court noted that although the intention of the fourteenth was to establish equality of all races before the law, separate treatment did not imply inferiority because there was no significant difference in the quality between the separate rail cars.
This decision established the doctrine of separate but equal in its finding that racial segregation was constitutional as long as the segregated facilities were equal. It legitimised the establishment of racial segregation and eroded achievements attained during the reconstruction era. The decision was a setback to civil rights because segregation became more entrenched and set a tone in the south that led to the creation of Jim Crow laws. This decision was significantly weakened by the outcome in Brown v Board of …show more content…
De jure segregation is segregation by legislation. An example of this segregation is separate but equal doctrine, which allowed the segregation of public schools. An example of this segregation is the. De facto segregation on the other hand is segregation by practice for example voluntary segregation. An example of de facto segregation is white flight involving white families moving into suburbs in order to enrol their children is white schools. This outcome overturned the decision in Plessy v Ferguson, which had allowed segregation. This decision was major victory for civil rights movement and encouraged integration. It rejected the application of the separate but equal treatment to public schools. Although this decision applied only to public schools, it showed that segregation was not acceptable in other public institutions. The decision inspired the civil rights