Plessy v. Ferguson was a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case decided in 1896. The case centered around a Louisiana law that required separate railway cars for white and Black passengers. Homer Plessy, a man of mixed-race heritage, deliberately sat in the whites-only railcar and was arrested. Plessy challenged his conviction, arguing that the law violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

The Supreme Court, however, ruled against Plessy in a 7-1 decision, stating that racial segregation did not violate the 14th Amendment as long as the separate facilities were equal (the "separate but equal" doctrine). This decision effectively legalized segregation and paved the way for the establishment of Jim Crow laws, which enforced racial segregation in public facilities and institutions across the Southern United States for decades.

The Plessy v. Ferguson decision had far-reaching consequences for Black Americans, as it entrenched systemic racism and segregation in society. It wasn't until the Brown v. Board of Education case in 1954 that the Supreme Court overturned the "separate but equal" doctrine, ruling that segregated schools were inherently unequal and unconstitutional.