Public transport waiting rooms were strictly segregated.Places open to the public such as shops, hotels, cinemas, theatres and libraries had to provide separate rooms and facilities for the different races.Education. Legally, black children could be educated in separate schools, so long as the schooling was of an equal educational standard. In reality, schools for black Americans were far from equal, and the quality of education provided was inferior. In 1896, the Supreme Court upheld that this policy was legal and fair.In most of the Southern states, inter-marriage between blacks and whites was illegal.In employment, blacks received lower pay than whites and they were restricted to work of lower status, such as janitors, cleaners, and porters.Southern towns were strictly segregated into black and white residential areas.