Final answer:
True, the Supreme Court's decision in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) established the legal doctrine of 'separate but equal', which allowed racial segregation as long as facilities provided to blacks and whites were deemed equal.
Step-by-step explanation:
True, in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), the Supreme Court did rule that the "separate-but-equal" doctrine could be legal as long as the facilities for whites and blacks were "equal". This decision upheld the legality of racial segregation, stating that it did not violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment as long as the segregated facilities provided to each race were equivalent.
False. The Supreme Court's ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson reinforced the doctrine of "separate but equal," which gave constitutional protection to race-based discrimination and supported the attitudes of the majority of Americans and elected officials at the time. However, it's important to note that these facilities were not actually equal. In reality, the facilities for Black people were almost always inferior.
Keywords: Plessy v. Ferguson, separate but equal, Supreme Court, race-based discrimination
The case was centered on Homer Plessy's challenge to a Louisiana law that required separate railway cars for blacks and whites. Plessy's arrest for sitting in a car designated for whites led to a lawsuit arguing that his equal protection rights were violated. However, the Supreme Court's ruling reinforced de jure segregation, and the doctrine of separate but equal stood until it was struck down in the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954.