Plessy v. Ferguson
Plessy v. Ferguson was enacted into law in 1896 with the purpose of segregated railroad cars for African Americans instead of riding with white people. Although, railroad cars were not the only public aspect of society to be segregated, a lot of other areas including schools were also segregated. Many believed that this segregation would allow for 'separate, but equal' treatment of people based on the color of their skin, but it didn't turn out to be equal. In many instances, African Americans were given less or not as good of resources than white people were.
The segregated schools that African American's were allowed to attend are not even comparable to the schools that white people had the opportunity to receive an education from. Plessy v. Ferguson allowed for the segregation of African American children into crowded, hazardous school facilities that were frequently unreachable by public transportation, which then required children to walk long distances throughout the year, despite potential harsh weather or unsafe walkways. There weren't enough desks in the classrooms for every student, and the few books the students did have to read from were old and used from white schools. Additonally, African American instructors received pay that was far less than what their white counterparts received, despite teaching in harsher conditions.1
1 “The Struggle against Segregated Education.” n.d. National Museum of African American History and Culture. https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/struggle-against-segregated-education.