According to the ruling in the Plessy v. Ferguson case, why was segregation acceptable?
1.Segregation was legal because African Americans were not citizens.
2. Segregation was legal as long as the facilities for blacks and whites were equal.
3. Segregation was acceptable in private facilities only.
4. Segregation was acceptable on a state by state basis.
2. Segregation was legal as long as the facilities for blacks and whites were equal.
Segregation was legal as long as the facilities for blacks and whites were equal.
That is correct. The ruling in the Plessy v. Ferguson case established the doctrine of "separate but equal," which allowed for segregation as long as the facilities and services provided for African Americans were deemed to be equal to those provided for whites. However, in practice, this doctrine was often used to justify inferior and unequal treatment of African Americans.
The correct answer is option 2: Segregation was legal as long as the facilities for blacks and whites were equal.
To understand why segregation was deemed acceptable according to the ruling in the Plessy v. Ferguson case, it is important to delve into the background of the case and the arguments put forth by both sides.
Plessy v. Ferguson was a landmark 1896 U.S. Supreme Court case that dealt with the constitutionality of racial segregation in public facilities. In this case, Homer Plessy, a man of mixed African American and European American descent, challenged the legality of segregation laws in Louisiana.
The Supreme Court, in a 7-1 decision, upheld the legality of racial segregation under the "separate but equal" doctrine. They argued that as long as the facilities were equal in quality, both races could be provided separate but equal accommodations. In their opinion, the Court asserted that the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment did not forbid racial segregation as long as the facilities or services provided to each race were equivalent.
Therefore, it was concluded that segregation was acceptable under the condition that the separate facilities for Blacks and Whites were equal. This ruling had a profound impact on American society, as it legitimized segregation and paved the way for further discriminatory Jim Crow laws that enforced racial segregation for several decades.