Which doctrine did Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) uphold regarding racial segregation?

• A. Separate but equal
• B. Brown v. Board of Education
• C. Civil Rights Act
• D. Dred Scott decision

Answer: (A)

The ruling upheld the separate but equal doctrine, meaning that state laws could require racial segregation in public facilities as long as the separate facilities for different races were considered equal in quality. This came from a case about Louisiana’s law requiring separate railroad cars, and the Court held that the law did not violate the Equal Protection Clause because the facilities were deemed equal. In practice, this allowed segregation to continue for decades, until Brown v. Board of Education challenged and overturned the idea that separate facilities could be truly equal. The Civil Rights Act is federal legislation prohibiting discrimination, not a doctrine about segregation. The Dred Scott decision dealt with citizenship and rights of Black people before the Constitution in a different context, not with the modern doctrine of segregated public facilities.