Segregation was a major issue from the late 19th century through the 1960's. African Americans were treated harshly and unfairly. From the 1880's to the 1960's, a majority of states enforced segregation through Jim Crow legislation. From Delaware to California, and from North Dakota to Texas, many states could impose legal punishments on people for consorting with members of another race. The most common types of laws forbade intermarriage, and ordered business owners and public institutions to keep their black and white clients separated.
Some of the earliest Jim Crow legislation came from the transportation industry. As early as 1881, Tennessee enacted a law enforcing segregation in railway cars. Then the U.S. Supreme Court ruling, Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), upheld Louisiana's right to segregate railway carriages, declaring that the 14th amendment to the U.S. Constitution mandated political, but not social equality.
A combination of factors led to the dismantling of Jim Crow starting in the late 1940's. Supreme Court decisions in Sweatt v. Painter (1949) and McLaurin v. Oklahoma (1950) began to break down the "separate but equal" standard set by Plessy v. Ferguson. State-sponsored segregation was finally outlawed in 1954 with Brown v. Board of Education.
BROWN
v. BOARD OF EDUCATION
PLESSY v. FERGUSON
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