Plessy v. Ferguson: "Separate but Equal"
The Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) is widely known for having established the precedent of "separate but equal." The case originated in Louisiana and was a direct challenge to the separate passenger cars that were designated 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, 1). 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." Homer Plessy was part of a test case to challenge the separate car facilities in Louisiana. He was only one eighth African descent and appeared to be white. Despite his predominantly white appearance, he was arrested for sitting in a white car and refusing to "vacate said coach, and occupy another seat, in a coach assigned by said company for persons not of the white race, and for no other reason than that petitioner was of the colored race; that, upon petitioner's refusal to comply with such order, he was, with the aid of a poli
Homer Plessy's refusal to sit in an area designated for a specific race was echoed by famous figures such as Rosa Parks during the Civil Rights movement a half a century after his case lost in the Supreme Court. In that case, Chief Justice Earl Warren decided that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal" (Landmarkcases. The fact that the highest court in the land decided that "separate but equal" was constitutional had far-reaching effects on the nation for another half a century. If the civil and political rights of both races be equal, one cannot be inferior to the other civilly or politically. If one race be inferior to the other socially, the constitution of the United States cannot put them upon the same plane" (Findlaw 7-8). The dissenting opinion was delivered by Justice Harlan who argued that "our constitution is color-blind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens. It is therefore to be regretted that this high tribunal. ce officer, forcibly ejected from said coach, and hurried off to, and imprisoned in, the parish jail of New Orleans" (Findlaw 1). With the belief that the thirteenth and fourteenth amendments had been violated in his case, Homer Plessy then took his case to the United States Supreme Court (Landmarkcases. The more substantial part of the argument was that the policy violated the fourteenth amendment by denying Plessy equal protection under the law. Later that same year, the Louisiana State Supreme Court reaffirmed the constitutionality of the Separate Car Act and rejected Plessy's argument that he was only one eighth black and should not be subject to the law. Justice Brown wrote the majority opinion and argued that the thirteenth amendment was not at issue in this case because "a statute which implies merely a legal distinction between the white and colored races-a distinction which is founded on the color of the two races-[.
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