In the 1914 case of McCabe v. Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Company, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a railway company violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment by providing separate but unequal facilities for black and white passengers. The plaintiff, Mr. McCabe, argued that he was denied equal protection under law because although there were separate cars for black and white passengers on trains operated by Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Company in Oklahoma; only whites had access to dining cars or sleeping accommodations while traveling overnight distances within state lines. The court held that if such services are provided to one race they must be available equally to all races under similar circumstances without any discrimination based on color.

In the dissenting opinion for McCabe v. Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Company, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes argued that the majority's decision to uphold a segregation law was incorrect because it violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. He contended that separate but equal facilities were inherently unequal and discriminatory against African Americans. Holmes believed that by allowing racial segregation in public transportation, they were endorsing a system of racial discrimination which contradicted constitutional principles of equality before law. The justice also expressed concern about how this ruling could set a dangerous precedent for future cases involving civil rights and race relations in America.