Examkin

Question

Difficulty: HardJim Crow, Disenfranchisement, and Legal Segregation

Read the excerpt below from the majority opinion of the U.S. Supreme Court in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896):

"We consider the underlying fallacy of the plaintiff's argument to consist in the assumption that the enforced separation of the two races stamps the colored race with a badge of inferiority. If this be so, it is not by reason of anything found in the act, but solely because the colored race chooses to put that construction upon it."

Which of the following statements best describes the constitutional rationale used by the Supreme Court majority in this decision to justify legal segregation?

  1. A
    The Fourteenth Amendment did not apply to state laws governing public transportation because segregation in these sectors was a de facto custom rather than a de jure legal mandate.
  2. The Fourteenth Amendment was established to enforce the absolute equality of the two races before the law, but it could not have been intended to abolish distinctions based upon color or to enforce social equality.Answer
  3. C
    The Thirteenth Amendment's clause permitting involuntary servitude as a punishment for crime authorized states to mandate racial separation in public spaces as a form of social regulation.
  4. D
    The Fifteenth Amendment's failure to explicitly protect access to public accommodations left states free to regulate public spaces without federal oversight.

Answer

The Fourteenth Amendment was established to enforce the absolute equality of the two races before the law, but it could not have been intended to abolish distinctions based upon color or to enforce social equality.
The correct answer accurately reflects the majority opinion's distinction between political/legal equality and social equality. Justice Brown argued that the Fourteenth Amendment was intended to enforce the absolute equality of the two races before the law, but not to abolish distinctions based on color or to enforce social integration. Therefore, state-enforced segregation did not violate the amendment so long as facilities were equal.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the stimulus from the Plessy v. Ferguson majority opinion to identify the Court's argument regarding the 'badge of inferiority.'
The Court asserts that segregation does not imply inferiority unless Black citizens choose to interpret it that way.
Understanding the Court's framing of segregation as a social matter rather than a legal violation of equality.
2
Evaluate the choices to find the constitutional rationale that matches the majority's distinction between legal and social realms.
The argument that the Fourteenth Amendment guarantees legal equality but cannot enforce social equality matches Justice Brown's majority reasoning.
Aligning the text of the ruling with the established legal doctrine of 'separate but equal' which separated civil rights from social commingling.
3
Review the distractors to eliminate options that conflate types of segregation or misapply other Reconstruction Amendments.
Confirm that the state-enforced segregation was a de jure measure, not de facto, and that the case rested on the Fourteenth Amendment, not the Thirteenth or Fifteenth.
Ensuring the accurate identification of historical facts and legal terms.

Key Concept

The legal and constitutional rationale used to establish and justify the 'separate but equal' doctrine during the Jim Crow era.
Rate this question

Topics

Jim Crow, Disenfranchisement, and Legal Segregation

More questions from this topic