The object of the [Fourteenth Amendment was undoubtedly to enforce the absolute equality of the two
races before the law, but in the nature of things, it could
not have been intended to abolish distinctions to
upon color, or to enforce social, as distinguished from
political, equality, or a commingling of the two races upon
terms unsatisfactory to either. Laws permitting, and even
requiring, their separation, in places where they are liable
to be brought into contact, do not necessarily imply the
inferiority of either race to the other, and have been
generally, if not universally, recognized as within the
competency of the state legislatures in the exercise of
their police power
- Justice Brown, Majority Opinion, Plessy Ferguson,
1896
What was the response of southern lawmakers to the ruling?
A. The enactment of more segregation laws
B. The denunciation of the one drop rule in racial differentiation
C. The revision of the equal protection clause in the Fourteenth
Amendment
D. The investigation of discriminatory business practices