Plessy v. Ferguson
Plessy v. Ferguson is a well known case in the fight against discrimination.
Plessy v. Ferguson was a case involving segregation and racial discrimination. During segregation there were many ways blacks and whites were separated and one was on public transportation like trains and buses. Homer Plessy refused to move from his seat on a train after explaining to the conductor that he was only partially black, and after being arrested his lawyers tried to prove that his rights as an American citizen had been violated. The trial of Plessy v. Ferguson took place during segregation, the trial and court decisions had some effects on segregation and racial equality.
Throughout the time period that Plessy v. Ferguson took place is the leading reason as to why Homer Plessy refused to move in the first place.“African Americans had been fighting against racial discrimination for centuries; during the 1950s, however, the struggle against racism and segregation entered
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“The plan of Plessy's attorney, James E. Walker, was to invalidate the segregation law by invoking the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments” (Carson and Bonk). Homer Plessy’s lawyers believed and wanted to prove that his rights as a United States citizen had been violated on the train. “Louisiana had to show why the law was within the power of the states to enact” (Anderson, 28). The state's argument had to prove to the supreme court that it is under the state's control to make the laws and to what extent they should be enforced; therefore Plessy was not wrongly charged because Louisiana has the right to create the laws. In a way the state lawmakers and judges can alter the laws in any way they deem necessary. “Plessy then decided to take the case to the United States Supreme Court” (Carson and Bonk). Plessy took the trial to the U.S Supreme Court after the Criminal Court in New Orleans found him