Which Supreme Court case upheld segregation in the United States?

• A. Plessy v. Ferguson
• B. Brown v. Board of Education
• C. Dred Scott v. Sandford
• D. Roe v. Wade

Answer: (A)

Racial segregation's legality rested on how the courts interpreted equality and public rights. Plessy v. Ferguson established the "separate but equal" doctrine, ruling that state laws creating separate facilities for Blacks and whites did not violate the Fourteenth Amendment as long as the facilities were equal in quality. This provided legal cover for Jim Crow laws and allowed segregated schools, trains, and public spaces to persist for decades. Brown v. Board of Education later overturned this approach in the context of public schools, ruling that segregation was inherently unequal. Dred Scott v. Sandford predates the Jim Crow era and denied Black citizenship rights, not specifically about segregation in public facilities, and Roe v. Wade concerns abortion, not racial segregation. So the case that upheld segregation is Plessy v. Ferguson.