This famous 1896 U.S. Supreme Court case established the doctrine of "separate but equal"…otherwise known as the biggest oxymoron since True Lies.

The petitioner in the case was challenging a Louisiana law that required trains to have "equal, but separate" coaches. Under this law, train operators could refuse service to African Americans if they tried to sit in the white coach. At the time, this was mainstream racism, but if you read the case today it sounds like something from a parallel universe. (Source)

The Court's official opinion held that segregation in public transportation, schools, and private businesses was Constitutional. The reasoning was that none of this violated the Thirteenth or Fourteenth Amendments. In other words, they thought it was fine because it wasn't slavery, and didn't take away citizenship.

Huh. That's right up there with saying "Hey—armed robbery's okay. It's not like it's murder, guys."

The Court also held that:

"Laws forbidding the intermarriage of the two races may be said in a technical sense to interfere with the freedom of contract, and yet have been universally recognized as within the police power of the State." (Source)

Yikes. Technically, that's an official legal decision—yet it is now universally recognized as insane.