Plessy held that law cannot legislate social equality, validating separate but equal

Evidence

Another flaw, as the Court saw it, was that “the argument also assumes that social prejudices may be overcome by legislation, and that equal rights cannot be secured to the negro except by an enforced commingling of the two races. We cannot accept this proposition.” The Court went on to provide its view on how racial equality would be won for black Americans: “If the two races are to meet upon terms of social equality, it must be the result of natural affinities, a mutual appreciation of each other’s merits, and a voluntary consent of individuals.” The decision concludes with a final observation: “If one race be inferior to the other socially, the constitution of the United States cannot put them upon the same plane.” As a result, the Supreme Court legally validated the “separate but equal” doctrine that held that separate facilities for black Americans were constitutional and therefore legal. — Dorothy A. Brown, Getting to Reparations, 386

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: The Declaration’s equality promise was made legally operative only through later social movements — Edward J. Larson, Declaring Independence, 355