I, too, am America: The Harlem Renaissance and the Civil Rights Movement — Test

Question 6 • Literature and Composition III

Which best explains why the Supreme Court’s decision in Plessy v. Ferguson was unconstitutional?

Answer

Since the 14th Amendment did not make concessions for people born outside the US, the Supreme Court’s decision could not be applied.

Since segregation laws did not provide equal protections or liberties to people of color, the ruling was not consistent with the 14th Amendment.

The Supreme Court’s ruling allowed states to deny equal protection to any person within its jurisdiction.

The Supreme Court’s decision gave individual states the freedom to make their own laws in relation to the treatment of people of color.

Explanation

The 14th Amendment guarantees equal protection of the laws to people within a state’s jurisdiction. Plessy v. Ferguson upheld racial segregation under the “separate but equal” doctrine, even though segregation denied people of color equal treatment and protections in practice. Therefore, the ruling conflicted with the 14th Amendment; choice B states this most accurately.

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