PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - john a. powell TI - The Law and Significance of <em>Plessy</em> AID - 10.7758/RSF.2021.7.1.02 DP - 2021 Feb 01 TA - RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences PG - 20--31 VI - 7 IP - 1 4099 - http://www.rsfjournal.org/content/7/1/20.short 4100 - http://www.rsfjournal.org/content/7/1/20.full AB - In this article, the author explores the legal history that precluded and followed the case of Plessy v. Ferguson, setting up the historical context and significance of the case. Here, powell shows the embeddedness of structural racism in the American legal system and the slow work done to untangle racism from the law.