The Fight for Racial Equality In North Carolina Essay

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.”

One of the most historic cases in Supreme Court history is the Plessy v. Ferguson case of 1896. Plessy v. Ferguson was a trial that ruled segregation as legal, as long as separate, equal facilities were provided for both races. After the Reconstruction era had dispersed, the Jim Crow laws appeared. The Separate Car Act was one of the Jim Crow laws enacted upon by the Louisiana State Legislature. This law stated that blacks and whites

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

Brown v. the Board of Education was a case that helped shaped America’s education system into what it is today. ‘Separate but equal’ is phrase well attributed to the civil rights movement in all aspects of life: water fountains, movie theaters, restaurants, bathrooms, schools, and much more. This phrase was coined legal in Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896. Plessy v. Ferguson said that racial segregation of public facilities was legal so long as they were ‘equal.’ Before this even, Black Codes, passed in 1865 under President Johnson legalized the segregation of public facilities including schools. In 1868, the Fourteenth Amendment was ratified guaranteeing all citizens equal protection under the law. Still, though, blacks were not given equal opportunities when it came to voting, schooling and many other inherent rights. 1875 brought the Civil Rights Act that prohibited the discrimination in places of public accommodation. These places of public accommodation did not seem to include educational facilities. Jim Crow Laws become widespread in 1887, legalizing racial separation. These downfalls were paused by development of the Nation Association for the Advancement of Colored People that was founded in 1909. This association began to fight the discriminatory policies plaguing the country, especially in the southern areas. Finally Brown v. the Board of Education fought these decisions, stating that ‘separate but equal’ and discrimination allowed by the latter decisions did not have a

After the Civil War, following the Compromise of 1877 and the end of Reconstruction, the protection for the rights of African American ended if there was any. Southern States had moved to impose a system of segregation on nearly all areas of life. New laws that required segregation that stirred “separate but equal” doctrine that disenfranchise African Americans for almost six decades. It is hard in this days and age to be able to imagine segregation as a law, but the remnants just change form and name. A petition file on June 7, 1892, in the supreme court Louisiana by a local shoemaker named Homer Plessy against Honorable judge John H. Ferguson. His filling set a test case to challenge Separate Car Act that prompt Plessy v. Ferguson case perhaps one of the most noticeable actions to nullify “separate but equal” doctrine.

Plessy v Ferguson: Plessy v Ferguson was a Supreme Court case ruled that segregated ‘equal but separate’ a public compromise for both colored and whites don’t violate the fourteenth amendment that made segregation legal.

The intellectual roots of Plessy v. Ferguson, the landmark United States Supreme Court decision upholding the constitutionality of racial segregation in 1896 under the doctrine of "separate but equal" were, in part, tied to the scientific racism of the era.[32][33] However, the popular support for the decision was more likely a result of the racist beliefs held by many whites at the time.[34] In deciding Brown v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court rejected the ideas of scientific racists about the need for segregation, especially in schools. The Court buttressed its holding by citing (in footnote 11) social science research about the harms to black children caused by segregated schools.

In June of 1896 the Plessy v. Ferguson set the precedent for separate but equal. Homer Plessy an African American, who was a passenger in a train, did not sit in a Jim Crow car. This was a clear violation of the Louisiana law because he had not sat in the designated area of the train. Although, Homer Plessy said that his rights were being violated and it was unconstitutional to make him sit in a Jim Crow car. Homer Plessy’s case was seen by John H. Ferguson, an American lawyer and an American judge from Louisiana, the courts ruled,”... that a state law that “implies merely a legal distinction” between whites and blacks did not conflict with the 13th and14th amendments”(Plessy v. Ferguson). The court tried to avert talk of the 14 amendment, which allows citizens

There were those in positions of authority that chose to ignore the stipulations of the newly establish amendments. Between 1873 and 1883 during the Reconstruction era, the US Supreme Court handed down a series of decisions with the purpose of rendering the work of Congress void. Because of these decisions, blacks were separated from whites by law and by private action in transportation, public area accommodations, recreational facilities, prisons, armed forces, and schools in Northern and Southern states. In 1896, the Supreme Court sanctioned legal separation of races by its ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson, which held that having separate but equal facilities was not a violation of the Fourteenth

The data that I chose to examine is black population in the year 2010 and income in the past 12 months below poverty level. I obtained these tabular data from the North Carolina Linc website (http://linc.state.nc.us/). The data for the black population in the state of North Carolina is the official record of Census Bureau. The Census Bureau gathered this data through people who associated themselves as being “black or African American” (NC LINC- Data definition). The second variable that I chose to examine is the North Carolina counties where the income in the past 12 months falls below the poverty level. According to the Institute for Research on Poverty, the U.S. Census Bureau measure the poverty level by “comparing pretax income to the three times the cost of minimum food diet” (How is poverty measured in the United States?). Unlike some people, my prior knowledge on these subjects was very minimal until I read the article “The Case for Reparations” by Ta-Nehisi Coates. Coates article focuses on stratification, social class and class system in the American society. The article had very interesting and shocking point which made me measure them first hand through the use of NC LINK and ArcGIS online mapping software.

Plessy V. Ferguson was a court case that took place in 1896 in New Orleans. This case was held due to an incident in which African American train passenger Homer Plessy refused to sit in a Jim Crow Car where at the time in Louisiana, all colored people had to by law, which required separation of both whites and colored people. This action resulted in Plessy’s arrest in 1890. Even though Plessy argued that this violated his constitutional rights, the court ruled that a state law that “states merely a legal distinction “between those that are white and colored did not conflict with the 13th and 14th amendments. Restrictive legislation bases on race continued following the Plessy decision, its reasoning was not overturned until Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka in 1954.

“By the summer of 1964,” David Cunningham writes in “Klansville, U.S.A.,” “the Carolina Klan established a demanding schedule of nightly rallies across the state, where they enlisted thousands of dues-paying members.” More than that, “at its mid-1960s peak the Klan’s presence in North Carolina eclipsed klan membership in all other southern states combined.” (Cunningham most likely put “klan” in lowercase because of the groups’ disorganization.)

The Supreme Court ruling on May 18, 1896 in the case of Plessy v. Ferguson established the “separate but equal” standard that would legitimize segregation based on race. The ruling would stand for nearly 58 years when on May 17, 1954 the Supreme Court would rule against segregation of educational institutions in the case of Brown v. Board of Education. This ruling would end segregation in the educational system, but left other forms of legalized segregation in place until July 2, 1964 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, ending all forms of segregation and discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. The court in 1896 felt justified in the ruling to establish the “separate but equal”

One of the cases against segregated rail travel was Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), in which the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that "separate but equal" accommodations were constitutional. However, in 1952, the Supreme Court heard a number of school-segregation cases, including Brown v. Board of Topeka, Kansas. It decided unanimously in 1954 that segregation was unconstitutional, overthrowing the 1869 Plessy v. Ferguson ruling that had set the "separate but equal" precedent.