plessy v. ferguson

plessy v. ferguson is one of those supreme court cases where a few words helped shape decades of american life.

in 1896, the court ruled that racial segregation could be legal as long as things were supposedly “separate but equal.” in reality, that gave jim crow segregation a constitutional shield across much of the south.

almost 60 years later, brown v. board of education rejected that logic in public schools.

kind of terrifying how much damage can hide inside a phrase that sounds reasonable on paper.