Louisiana Railway Accommodations Essay

The Louisiana Railway Accommodations

Also called the “Separate Car Act,” “The Louisiana Railway Accommodations Act” was a law that was enacted by legislature in the state of Louisiana in 1890. The Act is remembered as one of the most controversial laws that contributed to the negative aspects of the “gilded age.’ The Act assigned the Whites and African Americans and other people of color separate accommodations in railroads located within Louisiana. However, segregation issues emerged after implementation of the law, which triggered negative reactions from the African Americans. The African Americans realized that the Separate Car Act led them to be treated as inferior citizens. The reactions of the African Americans and other citizens that

Upon conviction, such a firm would be liable to pay a fine of between 100 dollars and 500 dollars. Further, the Act stipulated that any officer found to have acted against that law would be liable to pay between 25 dollars and 50 dollars for every offence. However, the act did not apply to nurses of attending to children of another race. Last, the Act stated that it had force over all other laws that contradict it and thus, those other acts were no longer effective. The Separate Car Act is an example of the efforts by states in the late 19th century to return racial discrimination, yet significant attempts to end the discrimination made earlier had borne fruits. Prior to the 1860s, before the end of the Civil War, African Americans in the US were generally treated as inferior citizens by the Whites. After the Civil War, however, slavery was abolished everywhere in the US. New laws were established, which were meant to end the slavery and to guarantee freedom to the freed slaves. The Thirteenth Amendment, which was ultimately enacted in 1865, was meant to end slavery in all states in the US. The Fourteenth Amendment, which was enacted in 1868, was meant to ensure that all citizens of the US,

Consequently the whites continued to perceive the other races as being inferior. In fact, that notion exits until today. Despite the fact that there are laws prohibiting racial discrimination, the whites are treated fairly in many contexts while the blacks are discriminated against. A poll conducted by NBC News/SurveyMonkey in 2016 showed that 52 percent of the Americans believed that racial discrimination still existed. Racial discrimination has also been found to be prevalent in job hiring. Overall, the Separate Car Act played a major role in propagating racial discrimination in the US after its enactment. The Effect of the law became profound because of the force it was given by US Supreme Court ruling in 1986. The ruling made it difficult for the African Americans to take cases in court protesting against racial discrimination. Due to the notion that was cultivated by the act among the whites that they are not equal to the other races, it has been difficult to eliminate racial discrimination fully in the US. Thus, the Act contributed to the racial discrimination that exists in the US