University of Michigan Law School Scholarship Repository
Abstract
Segregation of races, particularly separation of white and colored races, has long been condoned by American courts as permissible under the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. Underlying the traditional view is the idea that the equal protection clause is not violated by segregation so long as equal facilities are provided for both races. On this basic premise a large number of jurisdictions, particularly the southern states, have predicated constitutional provisions and statutory enactments compelling racial segregation, while a number of other states where segregation has not been forbidden by express constitutional or statutory provision have achieved the same practical result. The possibility that the Supreme Court of the United States may hive occasion to pass on the validity of the basic assumption makes it desirable to review in some detail the attitude of the courts toward this problem