The U.S. Supreme Court decision that created the 'separate but equal' policy was:

• A. Brown v. Board of Education
• B. Shelley v. Kraemer
• C. Plessy v. Ferguson
• D. Dred Scott v. Sanford

Answer: (C)

This question tests understanding of where the “separate but equal” doctrine originated. Plessy v. Ferguson, decided in 1896, upheld a Louisiana law that required separate railway cars for Black and white passengers, ruling that segregation was permissible so long as the separate facilities were “equal.” In reality, those facilities were not equal, which allowed widespread, legally sanctioned segregation under the guise of neutrality. This doctrine stood for decades until Brown v. Board of Education rejected the notion that separation could be equal in public education. The other cases deal with different aspects of race and rights—Shelley v. Kraemer about enforcing private housing covenants and Dred Scott v. Sanford about citizenship—so they don’t establish the separate-but-equal framework.