Separate but Equal Doctrine

Definition

The Separate but Equal Doctrine was a legal principle in United States constitutional law that justified systems of segregation. Under this doctrine, as long as the facilities provided to each race were equal, segregation did not violate the Fourteenth Amendment ("equal protection of the laws").

Related terms

Plessy v. Ferguson: This was an 1896 U.S. Supreme Court case that upheld racial segregation under the "separate but equal" doctrine.

Brown v. Board of Education: This landmark 1954 Supreme Court case overturned Plessy v. Ferguson, declaring that separate educational facilities are inherently unequal and thus violating the Fourteenth Amendment.

Fourteenth Amendment: An amendment to the U.S Constitution adopted in 1868 which grants citizenship to “all persons born or naturalized in the United States,” including former slaves recently freed, and provides all citizens with “equal protection under the laws.”