Analysis Of Homer Plessy 's ' Plessy '

There was no clarification on what race would be considered white or what would be considered black. During this incident, “Homer Plessy, who was seven-eighths white and one-eighth African American, purchased a rail ticket for travel within Louisiana and took a seat in a car reserved for white passengers. (The state Supreme Court had ruled earlier that the law could not be applied to interstate travel.) After refusing to move to a car for African Americans, he was arrested and charged with violating the Separate Car Act.”(Duignan 2017). Judge Ferguson ruled that the separation was fair and did not violate the fourteenth amendment. The state Supreme Court also backed up this decision. The case was brought to the Supreme Court and "The law was challenged in the Supreme Court on grounds that it conflicted with the 13th and 14th Amendments. By a 7-1 vote, the Court said that a state law that “implies merely a legal distinction” between the two races did not conflict with the 13th Amendment forbidding involuntary servitude, nor did it tend to reestablish such a condition." (History.com Staff 2009). This decision set the key precedent of Separate but Equal in the United States. Racial segregation kept growing.

Plessy v. Ferguson , a very important case of 1896 in which the Supreme Court of the United States upheld the legality of racial segregation. At the time of the ruling, segregation between blacks and whites already existed in most schools, restaurants, and other public facilities in the American South. In the Plessy decision, the Supreme Court ruled that such segregation did not violate the 14th Amendment of the Constitution of the United States. This amendment provides equal protection of the law to all U.S. citizens, regardless of race. The court ruled in Plessy that racial segregation was legal as long as the separate facilities for blacks and whites were “equal.”

The Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson is known for having established the precedent of “separate but equal.” The case originated in Louisiana and was specifically made to the separate passenger cars that were for the black and white races. The Supreme Court, in this case, upheld the right of Louisiana to separate the races and “this decision provided the legal foundation to justify many other actions by state and local governments to socially separate blacks and whites” (Zimmerman, 1997). It was not until the famous Brown v. Board of Education case in 1954 that the highest court in the land outlawed the principal of segregation and the concept of “separate but equal.”

In 1892, Homer Plessy sought a seat in a “white” train car. Plessy was only 1/8 black, and appeared to be a Caucasian man. Even after being belittled and threatened, Plessy refused to transfer to a “colored” car. Violating the Separate Car Act, Plessy was arrested. He stated that this act violated his 13th and 14th amendment constitutional rights. His statements entailed that the act stripped away his 13th amendment right opposing slavery and his 14th amendment right for equal protection under the law. These arguments were revoked twice in lower courts until he decided he would take his plea to the Louisiana Supreme Court. (pbs.org)

In 1896 the U.S. Supreme Court case upheld the constitution of segregation under the “separate but equal” doctrine in the Plessy vs. Ferguson case. This case examined one key issue, was it constitutional to make black people sit in separate cars from white people? In 1890, Homer Plessy broke the law in Louisiana, by sitting in the white people car and he was 1/8 black and 7/8 white. The state of Louisiana passed the Separate Car Act, which required railway companies to have "separate but equal." There was punishment for not following the law which if a person would sit in the wrong car they had to pay $25 fine or go to jail for 20 days. Plessy was asked to move, but he refused and was arrested. When he was sent to jail he argued that Separated car acts violated the 14th amendment. Plessy took his case to the U.S. Supreme Court and it was

African Americans were never treated the same as other Americans. One day a black man who looked white named Homer Plessy got sick of sitting in a Jim Crow car so he decided to purchase a first class ticket in the white’s only section on the train. Plessy told the conductor that he was 1/8 black and he refused to move from the car. Removed from the train Plessy was in jail overnight and was released on a 500 dollar bond. Homer Plessy protested that his 13th and his 14th amendments rights were violated. This case became known as Plessy v. Ferguson. This case upheld the constitutionality of segregation under the “separate but equal” doctrine.

Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment which made segregation illegal. Eventually, the Supreme Court came to the conclusion that separate public facilities were “inherently unequal” (McBride 1). Brown vs. Board challenged and signaled the end of Jim Crow and “separate but equal” clause.

Brown v. Board of Education was a landmark case that was decided by the Supreme Court of America in 1954. It is a case that is believed to have brought to an end decades of increasing racial segregation that was experienced in America’s public schools. The landmark decision of this case was resolved from six separate cases that originated from four states. The Supreme Court is believed to have preferred rearguments in the case because of its preference for presentation of briefs. The briefs were to be heard from both sides of the case, with the focus being on five fundamental questions. The questions focused on the attorneys’ opinions about whether Congress viewed segregation in public schools when it ratified the 14th amendment (Benoit, 2013). Changes were then made to the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause.

The 13th amendment only applied to slaves which was not the case for Plessy. The 14th amendment was not intended to give African Americans social equality instead only political and civil. Brown wrote the majority opinion while Harlan was the only dissenting vote. Harlan believed that the inequality and segregation had gone too far, becoming natural and socially acceptable. Although Harlan was conservative from Kentucky, a border state during the Civil War, he realized the harm segregation was causing. Harlan stated, "Our Constitution in color-blind and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens." Although conservatives thought they were acting according to the law, they were only twisting it in order to stay at the center of power. On May 18, 1896 the 7-1 decision was reached. The law under the 14th amendment of separate but equal was constitutional. Since there were car accommodations for both races, it was equal. Although Plessy lost the case, the separate but equal law was overturned in Brown Vs. Board of Education in

Associate Justice John Marshall Harlan, the lone vote against the ruling, gave the dissenting opinion of the court. Harlan “insisted that the court had ignored the obvious purpose of the Separate Car Act, which was, under the guise of giving equal accommodation for whites and blacks, to compel the latter to keep to themselves while traveling in railroad passenger coaches. Because it presupposed—and was universally understood to presuppose—the inferiority of African Americans, the act imposed a badge of servitude upon them in violation of the Thirteenth Amendment.” (Duignan). He also stated, “The sure guaranty of the peace and security of each race is the clear, distinct, unconditional recognition by our governments, national and state, of every right that inheres in civil freedom, and of the equality before the law of all citizens of the United States, without regard to race. State enactments regulating the enjoyment of civil rights upon the basis of race, and cunningly devised to defeat legitimate results of the war, under the pretense of recognizing equality of rights, can have no other result than to render permanent peace impossible, and to keep alive a conflict of races, the continuance of which must do harm to all concerned” (Quotes from Plessy v. Fergusun). Harlan further explained what the constitution says by stating “Our Constitution is colorblind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens. In

Ferguson (1896) case. In the test case, Homer Plessy violated Louisiana’s Separate Car Act, and unsuccessfully challenged the law. His defense argued that the state law was a violation of both the Thirteenth Amendment and the Fourteenth Amendment. The first law dealt with the citizenship of Blacks, while the second demanded equal protection under the laws for all citizens. In the near unanimous vote, the Supreme Court upheld the Louisiana law. Within the opinion they argued that, “Our Constitution is color-blind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens. In respect of civil rights, all citizens are equal before the law.” Because of the Supreme Court words, the blatant denial of Black rights would continue for many years until its reversal. Jim Crow was word used to describe the collection of new laws enacted to suppress African-American rights. Not only had the court’s ruling not only gave credence to the law, but it had also allowed public places to enact segregation against colored people. Having a significant impact on African-Americans lives, Jim Crow effectively marked their place as second-class citizens in America. They had limited political power, subjected to unfair treatment in the courthouses, and had unequal education. The latter problem would be a huge issue for African-Americans as they struggled to gain admittance into state colleges. Indeed, their

In this case an African American father wanted to send his daughter to a close school but the school was not a black friendly school do to segregation she was not allowed to attend. The court decided that it was not constitutional and that it went against our equal rights.

Negroes were allowed to travel in common streetcars, trains and carriers with other whites. This system would take thirty to forty years to take the form racism. Besides, Jim Crow was not just a system of discrimination based on race; it was a legal system, backed up by United States Supreme Court in cases such as Plessy v. Ferguson and sustained by thousands of local states and ordinances. In 1883, in the Civil Rights Cases, the Supreme Court invalidated the Civil Right Acts of 1875, which had outlawed racial discrimination by hotels, theaters, railroads, and other pubic facilities. In Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896, Supreme Court gave its approval to state laws requiring separate facilities for blacks and whites, reasoning that segregated facilities did not discriminate so long as they were ‘separate but equal.’ John Marshal Harlan, a Kentucky lawyer, objected the Supreme Court’s decision in Plessy v. Ferguson case. He believed that the decision was unconstitutional as it interfered with the “Personal Liberty” of the people; and believed racial segregation as a badge of slavery. He regretted that Supreme Court that was supposed to guarantee this right is actually denying people of the right.

In the Plessy v. Ferguson case, the statute of Louisiana, acts of 1890, c. 111 requires train companies to provide separate but equal usage for colored and white races. Plessy was a resident in the state of Louisiana which he was of mixed race as he was seven eighths caucasian and one eighth black. He tried to use the whites only train section and was arrested. Plessy then sued Louisiana State Supreme Justice, the Hon. John H. Ferguson for violating his 13th Amendment which prevents slavery and his 14th Amendment which is equal protection under US laws. (“Plessy v. Ferguson”, 1).

In your own words, identify the basic legal questions at issue in this case, and the arguments supporting each side. Do you think the Circuit Court decided correctly? Explain your reasoning.