The passage below is from the US Supreme Court
decision in Plessy vs. Ferguson.
We consider the underlying fallacy of the plaintiff's
argument to consist in the assumption that the enforced
separation of the two races stamps the colored race with
a badge of inferiority. If this be so, it is not by reason of
anything found in the act, but solely because the colored
race chooses to put that construction upon it.
If the civil and political rights of both races be equal, one
cannot be inferior to the other civilly or politically. If one
race be inferior to the other socially, the constitution of
the United States cannot put them upon the same plane.
What was the impact of the reasoning above?
Racial segregation remained in place in the South
for another half century
state governments no longer had to provide equal
facilities to members of different races
State government had to ensure the economic and
social equality of their residents
Southern state governments were forced to end
their practice of racial segregation