What was the significant Supreme Court decision that upheld the legality of Jim Crow laws?

The Supreme Court decision that upheld the legality of Jim Crow laws was Plessy v. Ferguson. Decided in 1896, this landmark ruling established the legal precedent of "separate but equal," legitimizing the racial segregation that characterized Jim Crow laws in the Southern United States.

The case arose from Homer Plessy's challenge to the Louisiana law that required separate railway carriages for Black and white passengers. The Court ruled that as long as the separate facilities were equal in quality, such segregation did not violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. This ruling effectively sanctioned widespread racial discrimination and laid the groundwork for decades of systemic inequality until it was later overturned by Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, which ruled that separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.

Understanding this context is crucial, as it highlights how the Court's interpretation of the Constitution played a significant role in perpetuating racial segregation and discrimination during that era.