The14th Amendment, guaranteeing African Americans citizenship and all its privileges, is adopted into the U.S. Constitution. However, in 1896, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Plessy v. Ferguson states could constitutionally provide segregated facilities for African Americans, so long as they were "equal" to those afforded white persons. They never were and African Americans suffered through decades of debilitating discrimination in the South and elsewhere. In 1954, Plessy v. Ferguson was finally struck down by the Supreme Court in its ruling in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. Many African Americans were not able to exercise their right to vote until the Voting Rights Act passed in 1965. ow.ly/mRYP9
Posted on: Sun, 28 Jul 2013 10:10:33 +0000