What was the key outcome of Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)?

• A. Struck down segregation.
• B. Prohibited poll taxes.
• C. Upheld Louisiana law allowing for 'equal but separate accommodations for the white and colored races.'
• D. Abolished the Ku Klux Klan.

Answer: (C)

This question looks at how the Supreme Court interpreted the 14th Amendment when it came to race and public facilities. In Plessy v. Ferguson, the Court ruled that racial segregation was constitutional as long as the separate facilities provided for whites and people of color were considered “equal.” This established the doctrine of separate but equal and gave legal cover to Jim Crow laws across the South for many decades.

Think about what that means in practice: the decision didn’t require real equality in the facilities, only that the law allowed them to be separate. That’s why it enabled states to keep segregated schools, trains, parks, and other public spaces with the rationale that each group had its own facilities.

The case did not address poll taxes, it did not involve or abolish the Ku Klux Klan, and it did not strike down segregation. It wasn’t until Brown v. Board of Education later that segregation in schools, and then in many other areas, was challenged and started to be dismantled.