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"Separate but equal" is a legal doctrine observed in the United States from the end of Reconstruction until the famous Supreme Court case Brown v Board of Education.

The doctrine came about after Reconstruction in response to the 14th Amendment's direction that states may not deny the equal protection of the laws to people in the state. Specifically concerning schools, states were permitted to segregate the races as long as they provided facilities for non-whites that were "equal" to those provided for whites.

The doctrine was confirmed in the 1896 Supreme Court decision in Plessy v Ferguson, and overturned in the 1954 case Brown v Board of Education.

Before and during the Civil Rights Movement, African-Americans and whites where separated, but were supposed to have access to the same quality of facilities. Whites rationalized this was acceptable treatment that would keep them from having to interact with African-Americans, whom they saw as inferior and undesirable. In reality, the mere fact of segregation ensured African-Americans could never be seen as equal, and the lower quality of facilities and services they received both reinforced this idea and demonstrated the legal doctrine's hypocrisy.

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9y ago
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14y ago

Separate but equal is a set phrase (or idiom) that was commonly used in the United States to describe systems of segregation giving different "colored only" facilities or services for blacks, with the declaration that the quality of each group's public facilities were (supposedly) to remain equal. The phrase was derived from a Louisiana law of 1890[1].

It was also the title of an anonymous article written in 1869, detailing how people had equal rights but were separated because of race

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12y ago

That was the attempt at segregation that thought we could have equal treatment for blacks and whites while keeping separate facilities for them. But somehow, they never were quite equal.

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11y ago

That blacks and whites would have segregated schools, but the education must be equal for both races.

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Q: What does separate but equal mean in the civil rights movement?
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Related questions

What legacy of the civil rights movement has been recently challenged?

Separate but Equal


What did Mose Wright's do?

Mose Wright helped with the Civil Rights Movement. The civil rights movement helped give blacks equal rights as whites.


What was the civil rights moment?

The Civil Rights Movement was a movement created by the African Americans to become equal. This included equal rights in employment and housing.


When were blacks given equal rights?

In 1968 when the civil rights movement ended


What victories did the civil rights movement have?

For African American people everywhere to get equal rights.


The most obvious and immediate predecessor of the 1960s civil rights era movement for equal rights to African Americans was?

The most obvious and immediate predecessor of the 1960s civil rights era movement for equal rights to African Americans was abolitionism.


What year did the Civil Rights Act outlaw 'separate but equal'?

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed many forms of discrimination, and began dismantling the "separate but equal" doctrine that supported segregation. The Civil Rights Act of 1968 added further protection.


What did the civil right movement do?

the American civil rights helped black people to get their equal rights and so they have their right to vote


How did the civil rights movement change peoples life?

People had equal rights, both black and whites.


Has everyone in the US held equal rights?

no; the Civil Rights Movement was important because it provided equality


Was the civil rights movement a big issue?

Yes, because all people were not equal.


What are the aspects of the civil right movement for leadership strategies and underlying beliefs?

One aspect of the Civil Rights Movement is that everyone is created equal. Another aspect is that Blacks have the same rights as Whites