Homer Plessy was a brave man willing to stand up against southern Jim Crow laws, and that is fate in the Supreme Court is unfair. The Separate Car Act dictates that separate races must sit in separate cars, which is segregatory, and passed by the state of Louisiana. This is in direct violation of the 14th, and rightfully deserved to be challenged. African Americans everywhere should be able to use their rights earned by four long years of bloodshed, and not be dampened by the courts. But the court overlooked the fact that it was an state law, and not private policy, and deemed the segregation private and thus legal.
The South, home to most African Americans in that time, sought out ways to legally exclude African Americans. Homer Plessy had decided to test new segregation laws that had been passed a year earlier. A few months prior, Daniel Desdunes had also sat in the whites-only section, and his case had never made it to trial. However, in Plessy’s case, the Supreme Court was able to rule the new laws constitutional in a seven to one decision; “separate but equal” would be completely legal if both sections are equal.
Laws were passed that denied African-Americans their right to vote, excluded them from using public transportation, excluded them from playing sports or attending sporting events, and even prevented them from playing checkers with Whites. The decision divided American society in two which in turn hindered the struggle for equal rights by doing so. The Plessy v Ferguson decision set back racial relations, increased oppression rates within the many African-American communities, and subsequently authorized more than fifty years worth of “legal”
Plessy v. Ferguson The Supreme Court of Plessy v. Ferguson, argued on April 13, 1896, involved a man identified as Homer Adolph Plessy. Plessy was a man of seven - eighths Caucasian and one - eighths of African descent in the State of Louisiana who was denied to sit in a passenger train car reserved for “whites only.” The case questioned the Supreme Court whether Louisiana’s law mandating racial segregation infringes the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution.
Plessy then took this case to the Supreme Court, where their ruling set up a distinction between the Blacks and the White, who were supposedly equal (Bagwell, Jason). The Supreme Court ruled that even though the Fourteenth Amendment said that the two races were equal, those rights only went so far, and even went further on to say that the Fourteenth Amendment only applied to slavery (McBride,
The case occurred when Homer Plessy refused to sit in the Jim Crow car, which violated the Louisiana law and was put before Judge John H. Ferguson to challenge whether the state law conflicted with the Constitution or not. Indeed, in 1896, Ferguson concluded that the law was merely a legal distinction between two races and did not conflict with 13th amendment law. Society then adopted a system of “separate but equal” that emphasized separate facilities for blacks and whites
When Homer Adolph Plessy, who was one-eighth black, tested this law by taking a seat in the white-only section of a Louisiana Railway train, he was arrested. Plessy contended that the segregation law violated his rights under the Fourteenth Amendment (Newton, 2006). The case was appealed up to the U.S., Supreme Court in 1896. The Court ruled in a 7 – 1 vote upholding the Louisiana Statute, although associate justice John Marshall Harlan wrote a dissenting opinion. In his dissent, he wrote that “Our Constitution is color-blind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens…
Ferguson gave a ‘constitutional nod, to racial segregation in public places; foreclosing legal challenges against increasingly-segregated institutions throughout the South” (Plessy v. Ferguson). This explains that the verdict of the case slowed civil rights movements for a longer amount of time had Plessy v. Ferguson been decided differently. “The rail cars in Plessy notwithstanding, the black facilities in these institutions were decidedly inferior to white ones, creating a kind of racial caste society” (Plessy v. Ferguson).This illuminates that although the facilities of black and white people were separate they were not equal, creating tension. “After four decades…the Supreme Court has consistently ruled racial segregation in public settings to be unconstitutional”(Alex McBride).This shows that although Plessy v. Ferguson was not decided to benefit everyone it eventually made a change. Over all, Plessy v. Ferguson indirectly started something bigger than itself although being ruled differently in the
The background of the Civil Rights Movement reinforces the philosophy of anthropologist Margaret Mead who believed that “a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world.” Each individual possesses the power to encourage a difference in their community, whether it will benefit or harm the population is their decision. We must question our criteria to determine whether an event has changed the world, must it be an international change to be considered significant? Numerous organizations like the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) have battled for the civil rights of individuals while harnessing the power of civil disobedience that disputes the righteousness of racism.
Civil Rights Trailblazer - William Wilberforce Bimdini Perera “The heartbroken mother was to be separated from her little boy for the rest of her life” - Derick Bingham. This was what happened to many mothers and their children before slavery was put an end to.
The Civil Rights Movement changed the world. There were many individuals that sacrificed many things for this time era, and still till this day. Rosa Parks help changed the way blacks were treated in the 1950’s. Although she was not the first person to refuse to give up her seat, she was the first one to be arrested for it and convicted guilty (core-online.org). The first girl that refused her seat was Claudette Colvin.
Particularly in the South, they continued to seek opportunities to legal slavery. As a result, Southerners pass a state law, Black Codes, during reconstruction. This law restricted the civil rights and public activities of legally freed African Americans. Owning weapons, freedom of movement, and land ownerships were against Black Codes. Plessy vs. Ferguson (1896), the court case that upheld authority of the state law claiming, “separate-but-equal facilities for whites and blacks” , led up to another significant factor, segregation, which arose to be controversy in mid-1900s.
Martin Luther King is famous for being one of the main figures in the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s. He held many marches and peaceful gatherings to achieve equality for African Americans. It’s hard to see how this connects in any way to the film Coraline. Coraline is the story of a young girl who finds an opposite world to her own. At first, it seems to be inviting and fun but as she explores the world more, she finds it’s not all it seems.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is hailed by many as one of the most important legislations in the American history. The act was passed into law 52 years ago under a lot of pressure and resistance from white senators and African American activists. The act, which was largely known as the “Bill of the century” was aimed at bringing equality for blacks and whites and end racial prejudice. The act was targeted to revolutionize America where blacks and whites would eat together in the same hotels and enjoy similar rights in public places without any discrimination.
Dancing in the streets: Civil rights “dancing in the street” was a song written for all the cites in the world who were facing racial discrimination during the 1950s. One of the cities mentioned in the song was Chicago. Chicago has had many racial problems during the 1950s, problems with gangs and whites fighting blacks. On 1966, Martin Luther, the leader of the civil rights movement, decided to have a plan for Chicago, which he named “Chicago freedom”. Plan “Chicago freedom” was supposed to help Martin and his followers of the civil rights movement, to be able to bring their civil rights march to the southern areas of Chicago to show why we should all be equal with one another.
