RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 The Law and Significance of Plessy JF RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences FD Russell Sage Foundation SP 20 OP 31 DO 10.7758/RSF.2021.7.1.02 VO 7 IS 1 A1 john a. powell YR 2021 UL http://www.rsfjournal.org/content/7/1/20.abstract 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.