Plessy V. Ferguson Trial

Plessy V. Ferguson

The Plessy V. Ferguson trial was a civil rights case in Louisiana in the 1890’s concerning an African American man who refused to sit in a Jim Crow car. The courts ruled that Louisiana's separate but equal doctrine was constitutional; Ferguson won. This case affected humanity in a negative way culturally and politically. The trial established standards of “the separate but equal laws”.
The Plessy V. Ferguson trial was very politically contentious. There was claims that the law were unconstitutional and wrong. Dr. Berman E. Johnson stated that “The “separate but equal” doctrine was quickly extended to cover many areas of public life and encouraged many states to launch a large offensive to legally relegate all African

Ferguson case people realized that they could easily get away with widespread segregation. As time went on segregation became more and more integrated into daily life. “Strict laws were passed to forcibly separate blacks from whites in every sector of the society including education, restrooms, hotels, public transportation, sports, hospitals, prisons, and even cemeteries. African Americans were systematically denied the right to vote, and some cities established a 10:00 PM curfew for blacks” (Johnson) As time went on, more laws were passed denying African Americans access to many things in daily life.These actions extended until 1964 when a colored man by the name of Oliver Brown (Brown V.Board of Education) went to court because his daughter had to walk miles and miles to get to the closest colored school. “The Plessy v. Ferguson decision that legalized the practices of “separate but equal”. In the Plessy decision, the

Justice Henry Brown stated “ To enforce the absolute equality of the two races before the law, but in the nature of things it could not have been intended to abolish distinctions based upon color, or to enforce social, as distinguished from political equality, or a commingling of the two races upon terms unsatisfactory to either." (Wormser)changing laws can be one thing but trying to get people to change the ways they were taught all their life and their minds is a difficult thing to try and do. “This legislation made it a crime for an individual to deny “the full and equal enjoyment of any of the accommodations, advantages, facilities, and privileges of inns, public conveyances on land or water, theaters and other places of public amusement; subject only to the conditions and limitations established by law, and applicable alike to citizens of every race and color.” (our-documents.gov). yes the las me made to be equal but society did not translate them in the same ways. People thought that the African Americans (even though citizens) were inferior