What was the plessy v. Ferguson case about?

The Plessy v. Ferguson case, decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1896, centered on the constitutionality of racial segregation laws. Homer Plessy, an African American man, challenged Louisiana's Separate Car Act after being arrested for sitting in a "whites-only" railway car. The Court upheld the law, establishing the "separate but equal" doctrine, which legitimized racial segregation and discrimination until it was eventually overturned by Brown v. Board of Education in 1954.