When the Louisiana legislature in 1890 passed the Separate Car Act, which mandated the racial segregation of railroad passengers, a group of black activists set out to challenge the law.

During Reconstruction, the federal government expanded the vote to blacks in the South, and provided some equal protection to black citizens. As Reconstruction failed, however, white supremacists ...

The ruling in Plessy v Ferguson was the start of the ‘separate-but-equal’ principle. This led to more segregation on transportation, in entertainment venues, in factories and at other places ...