fter the Supreme Court ruling of Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896, the doctrine of “separate but equal” applied to all segregated facilities throughout America. However, in May 1954, the Supreme Court ruled against this “separate but equal” doctrine in favor of school integration. It reasoned that “separate” inherently meant unequal. This epoch decision added credibility to civil rights movements in the South, and became a precedent for future court decisions regarding race relations in America.