Plessy V. Separate Car Act Of 1890

Executive Summary

The ruling in favor of Ferguson in the Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson has solidified systemic racism and discrimination into our legislative practice. If we uphold the ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson, it will continue to compromise our efforts to move toward racial equality and allow policy to target minority populations. People of color should be entitled to the same access to resources and public goods as their white counterparts. The Supreme Court should reconsider its position on the case because it has established a legal precedent for race-based discrimination and fails to hold school districts across the country accountable for maintaining quality facilities for everyone, regardless of color. This precedent has

The Separate Car Act of 1890, allowed the separation of white and non-white passengers under the requirement that the separate train cars would remain “equal, but separate.” On June 7, 1892, Homer Plessy, a mixed-race man, sat in a white-only train car as an act of protest that violated the Separate Car Act. Plessy’s protest has drawn attention to the divide between the treatment of Black citizens and the quality of their facilities. In light of the opposition to the Separate Car Act, Plessy brought the case to court arguing that the act was unconstitutional. The Supreme Court decided against Plessy 7-1, citing that the intention to make facilities equal made the law constitutional. The ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson established a legal basis for separate but equal practices nationwide. As a result of expanding de facto segregation, public services, including public education, began to adopt the discriminatory nature of “separate but equal.” The expansion of separate but equal practices in public schools has begun to compromise the quality of education and access to resources students of color receive. As we witness the impact of the Supreme Court’s decision unfold, it is important to consider how this legislation may impact the integrity of access to public

Ferguson has allowed discriminatory practices to prevail within public schools, disproportionately impacting the lives of minority students and teachers. These discriminatory practices have created disparities in teacher wages, allowed for mismanagement of public facilities, and inhibited socioeconomic advancement of communities of color. In Norfolk, Virginia, we can see the impact of the ruling take its effect when a white male teacher hired in segregated white high schools earned 53% more than a black teacher with identical qualifications. Considerable wage gaps based on discriminatory practices have made it difficult for Black educators to support themselves and their families. Similarly, mismanagement of Black public schools and facilities, like in Topeka, Kansas, has illuminated the fact that under the current Plessy v. Ferguson, schools are not able to be held adequately accountable for their failure to provide a quality education for all students. In 1879, The Topeka Colored Citizen, a local newspaper created by African Americans, reported that the Monroe Street School strategically neglected Black students, failing to keep them on track with their white peers to prevent integration at higher grade levels. Topeka's Monroe Street School highlights the deliberate hindrance to educational opportunities for minority students. Such unethical practices undermine the transformative potential of education in breaking the cycle of