Turmoil During The Civil Rights Era

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.”

Blacks fought against discrimination whenever possible. In the late 1800s blacks sued in courts to put an end to separate seating in railroad cars, states disfranchisement of voters, and denial of access to schools and restaurants. One of the cases against segregation was Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896, in which the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that separate but equal accommodations were constitutional.

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.”

Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X were very huge leading figures during the Civil Rights movement. Though they had many differences, they had some similarities. Both men’s fathers were preachers and both men were religious preachers themselves. Dr. King and Malcolm X were around the same age and they were both assassinated. Coincidentally, both men had the same number of children and eventually they had the same ideologies for the Civil Rights Movement. However, Dr. King and Malcolm X were different in ways such as Malcolm X wanted black supremacy and Dr. King wanted equality, Malcolm X saw violence as an option to achieve his goals if peace did not work and Dr. King believed in complete nonviolence, and Malcolm X

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

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.

In the late 1800’s, a series of racial policies went into effect known as the Jim Crow Laws. These laws enforced separate but equal treatment among African Americans and Whites. Established by the use of separate facilities such as, schools, hotels, restaurants, restrooms and transportation, many of us know and understand Jim Crow Laws by one word, “Segregation”. Jim Crow Laws were upheld by the government during the Plessy vs. Ferguson case and were cemented through acts of terror by the people who opposed. Although slavery had been abolished, African Americans were still stripped of their civil rights, which is intended to protect citizens from discrimination by the government and people.

In 1896 the United States Supreme Court ruled that it was constitutionally legal to segregate African Americans with their white counterparts. In the court case of Plessy v. Ferguson an African American man in Louisiana named Homer Plessy refused to follow the mandated Jim Crow laws which enforced that African Americans have to sit in a designated area when riding on a train. Plessy argued that his fourteenth amendment right was violated equal-protection clause, which “prohibits the states from denying “equal protection of the laws” to any person within their jurisdictions”(Duignan, 2016). However, when Plessy’s case moved to the Supreme Court they ruled“ the object of the Fourteenth Amendment was to create "absolute equality of the two races before the law," such equality extended only so far as political and civil rights (e.g., voting and serving on juries), not "social rights" (e.g., sitting in a railway car one chooses) (McBride, n.d. ). As a result, Plessy v. Ferguson

Despite both Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. actively fighting for freedom and equality during the Civil Rights Movement, both men are not remembered equally. Undeniably, their approaches were different and this resulted in varying outcomes regarding their successes. Indirect action seemed ineffective to Malcolm and he desired changed immediately, which may seem like the most effective route to change, yet Martin Luther King Jr. is famously known for his success achieving freedom. Malcolm X focused on direct action and standing up for the black community while Dr. King wanted to negotiate and was willing to wait for his equality which ultimately allowed him more widespread success.

During the start of the African American civil rights movement, Africans Americans still were faced with Jim Crow laws which segregated them from whites. Under the Jim Crow laws African Americans had different schools, bathrooms, trains, buses and many other things that were separated from the white population. The case, Plessy v. Ferguson went through the U.S. Supreme Court and turned out to make a legal policy “separate but

In 1892, Homer Plessy was a passenger in a railroad and who refused to sit in a Jim Crow car. He brought before Judge John H. Ferguson of the Criminal Court from New Orleans, who upheld the state law. The law was challenged in the Supreme Court on grounds that it conflicted with the 13th and 14th Amendments. Although, the Supreme Court had ruled in 1896, Plessy v Ferguson inculcated the “separate but equal” doctrine and passed laws entailing the segregation of races, arguing that Jim Crow laws were constitutional. The case was devastating for African Americans allowing the oppression of an entire race. The Supreme Court system in practice was separate and unequal;

In 1896, the court case of Plessy vs. Ferguson ruled that the states had the right to legally segregate public facilities. This court ruling fueled the fire of Southerners in regards to race relations, leading to the Jim Crow laws. These laws went as far as to say blacks could not cut a white person’s hair, drink from the same water fountain as a white person, and established a test for blacks to take prior to getting a ballot.

After the abolishment of slavery with the 13th amendment, many African Americans expected to be free with the same rights given to white citizens; however, to suppress blacks from achieving equality similar to whites, the United States passed “separate but equal” laws through the Supreme Court case, Plessy v. Ferguson. This case ruled that it was constitutional for blacks and whites to be segregated as long as they are both provided the same services, disregarding their quality. “Separate but equal,” or, more specifically, Jim Crow laws, fostered racism within American society because it supported racial segregation, reinforced anti-black stereotypes, and fostered the belief that blacks were inferior to whites. David Pilgrim demonstrates the unfair treatment of African Americans during Jim Crow segregation as “Blacks who violated Jim Crow norms, for example, drinking from the white water fountain or trying to vote, risked their

Political assassination is defined as the act of killing a political figure mainly for political reasons. In most cases, the motive behind political assassinations is beyond the person who is killed. Assassinations have been rampant across the globe for ages and these assassinations do cause lots of political instabilities in a country especially when key personalities such as heads of states are the victims. In this essay, we shall discuss some of the major assassinations which occurred in history. These personalities include John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Abraham Lincoln, Julius Caesar and Robert F. Kennedy.

Throughout history, many people have risen above society to make a point. They have envisioned a new idea or an alteration to existing lifestyles. These individuals have left their legacy and influence on society. Sadly, many of these individuals have been cut short in their journey because of their ideas and influence. Assassinations are reoccurring events that take the lives of many prominent people, regardless of their positive or negative impact.