Plessy v Fergusen was yet another court case where “separate but equal” was not implementing equality. It showed that they still thought of Black men and women as being less and not deserving the same rights as the White men. Homer Plessy was a free man, that was mainly White and because of a percentage he had of being Black he was treated as a Black man. He tried to sit in the train car of the White men and much like Rosa Parks was asked to go to the back where the Black men belonged in a different car. This case resulted in the Supreme Court defending the decision of the East Louisiana Railroad stating that they weren't violating any law by the ruling they had.
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.
The decision of this case provided constitutional sanction until overruled by the Brown v. Board of Education case. This case introduced the “Separate but Equal” Act. The Plessy v. Ferguson case legalized segregation in public accommodations, education, and
The Court declined his argument. The Court determined that the segregated schools were considerably equal enough under the Plessy doctrine. It wasn 't until the mid twentieth century when Brown v Board of Education came into play that Plessy’s argument was given the okay by the constitution. The Court tried to use Plessy v. Ferguson to deny the argument that Oliver Brown was giving during the Brown v. Board of Education case. Once the Courts decided that separating children by race could have an overall affect on the black children 's ability to learn.
Decided in 1896, the Plessy v Ferguson law was a landmark constitutional law case of the US Supreme Court. This case upheld state segregation laws for public places under the belief of the slogan “separate but equal.” It all began when Homer Plessy purchased a first class ticket to travel from New Orleans to Covington, La, taking a vacant seat in a white only car. This was ironic because he was seven eighths percent white and one out of eight percent black. He was arrested for breaking the law of 1890 stating that colored and whites have to sit in separate car’s riding a train due to the slogan separate but equal; emphasizing that everyone has the right to ride a train as long as they sit different cars (McBride, 2007).
The Civil rights movement began for African-Americas to end racial segregation and discrimination. A movement that would take years, lives and pride of many to make each African-American equal to white men. Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King go down in history for becoming the lead voice of the civil rights movement. Rosa Parks was arrest for non-compliance with bus segregation laws, although it was a seat she has paid for. It was known for black women to sit in the back of the bus and to give up their seat for white women/men.
Some of his and Justice John Harlan's arguments, laid the groundwork for future actions against an oppressive government. Oliver Brown used many of the same arguments as Homer Plessy, such as stating that separate but equal doctrine was unconstitutional because it violated the plaintiffs 13th and 14th amendment rights. While these arguments were before unsuccessful in Plessy v. Ferguson, they were later successfully backed up by the Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education, overruling the earlier set precedent. After the separate but equal precedent was over ruled, separate but equal school facilities were forced to be integrated. Long before this groundbreaking ruling, Justice John Harlan thought that the U.S. constitution should be “color-blind”, and his dreams were one step closer, though he was not there to see it.
Can separate really be equal? The landmark cases Plessy v. Ferguson and Brown v. Board of Education show two sides of an argument that changes the way many people see things today. The Plessy v. Ferguson case set the precedent that segregation was legal when Homer Plessy was convicted for sitting in the white compartment of a train. The Brown v. Board of Education case tore down this precedent when it started the desegregation of schools after two girls had a dangerous walk to their all blacks school everyday. These two cases changed court precedents greatly, one setting a precedent, and the other tearing it down.
The Civil Rights Movement inspired racial harmony between blacks and whites in America. The Movement was led by many leaders and activists. Some of the biggest leaders/activists were Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. They both had different philosophies on how to earn freedom and civil rights. The big question is whose philosophy was better in the 1960s. Martin Luther King believed that blacks and whites should join together as one country, but the only way to achieve that was through nonviolence.
For nearly a century, the United States was occupied by the racial segregation of black and white people. The constitutionality of this “separation of humans into racial or other ethnic groups in daily life” had not been decided until a deliberate provocation to the law was made. The goal of this test was to have a mulatto, someone of mixed blood, defy the segregated train car law and raise a dispute on the fairness of being categorized as colored or not. This test went down in history as Plessy v. Ferguson, a planned challenge to the law during a period ruled by Jim Crow laws and the idea of “separate but equal” without equality for African Americans. This challenge forced the Supreme Court to rule on the constitutionality of segregation, and in result of the case, caused the nation to have split opinions of support and
The Plessy vs. Ferguson case and the Black vs. Board of Education are cases that were brought to the Supreme Court in order to stop the 'separation but equal' law. Colored people had the same rights as the whites but were never actually treated equally. These cases make people think about what African Americans had to deal with in the 1800s and 1900s and it shows how far America has come. The cases made the world a better place by raising awareness for colored people, the cases showed that the idea of 'separate but equal' conflicted with the 13th/14th Amendment and created precedents for later cases. Here are some reasons that the idea of "separate but equal" didn't represent what the Constitution stands for.
In 1896, the historic ruling of the Plessy versus Ferguson case made by the Supreme Court significantly affected the generations to come. In the case, the Supreme Court made the ruling of “separate but equal.” This was when segregation came out in full force. Despite the amendments made before, the Supreme Court made the decision that African Americans were supposed to be separated from whites in daily life. This included schools, churches, entrances made specifically for one race, and even public transportation was segregated (Brock, “New South”).
Ferguson of 1896, this court case stated that all public facilities must be segregated, whites and blacks. This court case came about when Homer Plessy would not move from his seat on the bus that was specifically for white people, he was arrested willingly and went to court where the judge John H. Ferguson concluded that it was constitutional to have segregation. The court justified these actions by saying the people were now “separate but equal”, a doctrine adopted by Plessy v. Ferguson, and they also claimed it did not violate the Equal Protection Clause of the fourteenth amendment. The separate but equal doctrine stated equal treatment will be available as well as proper facilities for schooling. The Jim Crow laws helped support this segregation by standing behind the Plessy v. Ferguson case and enforcing racial segregation in public facilities.
The Civil Rights Movement was a critical period in history with many protests, boycotts, actions of bravery and so much more to fight for the document established in 1964 that made it official to prohibit discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. From 1940 to 1965, people worked hard together endlessly to achieve a common goal of equality for all because they were mistreated and deprived of rights that all humans deserved. The Civil Rights Movement proved to be successful from the results of the numerous efforts and continuous hard work put in by activists, people of all races, religions, genders, etc. like the desegregation of schools, and public transportation rights which eventually built up to the Civil Rights
At this juncture, the court was given the opportunity to provide a clear judgment on the issue of racial segregation, which would shape Civil Rights policy for years to come. In a 7-1 decision, the court upheld the law allowing for state sanctioned racial segregation on the grounds that it provided for “separate but equal” facilities. Essentially, the court decided that the Equal Protection Clause