Separate but Equal

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Proposed Civil Rights Monument, Capitol Square, Richmond

In 1896 the Supreme Court in Plessy v. Ferguson allowed states to require racial segregation on railroads and in other places so long as the facilities for different races were essentially equal. In most instances the separate educational facilities and opportunities for African Americans in the Southern states were inferior, not equal, to those for white Americans. From the 1930s to the 1970s, citizens of many states, especially in Virginia, used the federal courts to achieve equal pay for African American teachers and equal facilities and curricula for African American students.

That was the law. Was it justice?

 

Related Links:

Jim Crow Laws