In 1866, the Supreme Court ruled in Plessy v. Ferguson that racially segregated public facilities were legal, so long as the facilities for blacks and whites were equal. This first Plessy case sparked the Brown case. In 1866 the 14th amendment was passed having equal protection clauses and Brown claimed that segregation in public schools violated that amendment. Jim Crow laws communicated that whites should be separated from people of color in public facilities. The law was put in place to limit the contact between the two races.

                                           Inequalities 

Signs were put up at water fountains, restaurants, schools, and public facilities dictating what whites and colored people use. Other inequalities were separated movie theatres, they used different ​​​​​​​Bibles for swearing in black and white witnesses in court, restaurants would serve blacks but not let them eat on the premise, and they could not try on clothing at department stores. ​​​​​​​

Segregation, National Geographic, 2020

Segragation, Britannica, 1943 

Segregated school, Equal Justice Initiative, 1965