"Separate but equal" was a legal doctrine in the United States that justified racial segregation. It asserted that racial groups could be separated in public facilities, as long as the separate facilities were considered equal in quality. This principle was established by the Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896, which upheld state laws requiring racial segregation in schools, transportation, and other public spaces. However, the reality was that the facilities for African Americans were often inferior to those for white Americans. This inequality led to widespread discrimination and social injustice, ultimately prompting the civil rights movement. The doctrine was overturned by the Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954, which declared that separate educational facilities were inherently unequal.