• 1896
• 1965
• Boston

United States - The system of legal racial segregation lasted until 1965. In theory, non-whites were to have the same access and services as whites. In law and in practice, whites gave themselves prvileges over non-whites in every area of public life. Black Americans were harmed the most, since they were the direct target of Jim Crow laws.

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• 1896
• May
• business
• law
• Supreme Court
• Washington D. C.
• Grover Cleveland (2)

Washington, D. C. - The United States Supreme Court decided Black Americans can be legally segregated in America. This decision made state segregation laws into national law. Black Americans were made into legal second-class citizens, nationwide.

It all began, in Covington, Louisiana. A passenger was denied access to the white section of a train. Since the rider was 7/8 th white, he was told to go to the 'black' section. He refused and was arrested, under the Jim Crow Car Act of 1890.

Once the United States Supreme Court decided the case, it set several key precedents.

The state had sole power to decide who was black or white.

The Thirteenth (13th) and Fourteenth (14th) Amendments gave no protection to Black Americans from legal segregation.

Segregation of Black Americans had not harmed them.

The government owed no debt to Black Americans, if harmed by segregation.

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