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Plessy v. Ferguson
Plessy attempted to sit in an all-white railroad car. After refusing to sit in the black railway carriage car, Plessy was arrested for violating an 1890 Louisiana statute that provided for segregated “separate but equal” railroad accommodations. Those using facilities not designated for their race were criminally liable under the statute. Plessy was being treated unfairly, and the 13th and 14th Amendment were being violated. -
Brown v. Board of Education
a landmark United States Supreme Court case in which the Court declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students to be unconstitutional. The decision overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896, which allowed state-sponsored segregation, insofar as it applied to public education. The Warren Court's unanimous (9–0) decision stated that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal."
