1883 - October 15 – The Supreme Court of the United States declares part of the Civil Rights Act of 1875 to be unconstitutional, allowing individuals and corporations to discriminate based on race.

The Civil Rights Act of 1875 was a significant piece of legislation intended to guarantee African Americans equal treatment in public accommodations, public transportation, and to prohibit exclusion from jury service. However, in the case of Civil Rights Cases (1883), the Supreme Court ruled that the 1875 Act was unconstitutional.

The Court's decision was based on the interpretation that the 14th Amendment only prohibited state-sponsored discrimination, not discrimination by private individuals or businesses. This ruling essentially undermined the federal government's ability to enforce civil rights protections for African Americans in the years following Reconstruction, contributing to the establishment of the Jim Crow laws and the perpetuation of racial segregation in the United States.