Plessy v. Ferguson

 Louisiana's Separate Train Car Act of 1890 prohibited African Americans from having access to the same train cars as white people. In the case of Plessy v. Ferguson, Homer Plessy, a white-passing Louisianan, challenged the separate car act by sitting in a ‘white’ seat. He refused to leave the white train car and was arrested. 

(blackthen.com)

 

This case was taken to the supreme court after the district court judge, Judge John H. Ferguson, rejected Plessy's disagreement with the Separate Train Car Act as unconstitutional. The state supreme court affirmed this decision and the case proceeded to make its way to the supreme court. Plessy argued that it violated the equal rights granted to him by the fourteenth amendment. 

The famous “separate but equal” ruling of the case came from the decision that the fourteenth amendment only applied to political rights, not social rights (Jim Crow Laws) and that because train cars were available for both white people and African Americans, there was no inferiority imposed on the African Americans as they were both given the same facilities. 

(timetoast.com)

Justice Henry Brown concluded: “We consider the underlying fallacy of the plaintiff's argument to consist in the assumption that the enforced separation of the two races stamps the colored race with a badge of inferiority. If this is so, it is not because of anything found in the act, but solely because the colored race chooses to put that construction upon it.” (law.cornell.edu)

There was only one dissenting opinion: John Marshall Harlin. He argued that the train car act not only implied but allowed for African-Americans to be portrayed as inferior. “But in view of the constitution, in the eye of the law, there is in this country no superior, dominant, ruling class of citizens. There is no caste here. Our constitution is color-blind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens. In respect of civil rights, all citizens are equal before the law.” (law.cornell.edu) Harlin’s perspective was progressive for his time because he used the constitution as intended, not just to perpetuate discrimination.

Throughout the history of the United States, from Jamestown to the present, legislation has allowed for loopholes that allow discrimination. Plessy v. Ferguson, is, sadly, another example of this. 

(cnn.com)

As we look back on this case from a modern perspective, it is appalling looking back on the court's decision. However, the role of the supreme court, as intended by the founding fathers, is to preserve the intentions of the constitution. In this era, they were preserving the intentions of the constitution- which discriminated against African Americans since the founding of the country. 

The fourteenth amendment states: “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” (constitution center.org) According to the majority of the supreme court, the Louisiana Separate Train Car Act did not violate the 14th amendment because he was not denied equal rights- he was given equal facilities. This is the exact loophole that courts used over and over again until the civil rights act to let Jim Crow Laws go ignored. The majority claimed that African Americans were making it seem like discrimination, but they should be grateful for what they have. This is the type of treatment that is appalling to us today because we are more aware that civil rights are granted, natural rights, not something that hangs in the balance of the law.

https://www.britannica.com/event/Plessy-v-Ferguson-1896/Majority-opinion

https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/plessy-v-ferguson

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/plessy-v-ferguson-aimed-to-end-segregation-but-codified-it-instead

https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/163/537

https://blackthen.com/june-7-1892-homer-plessy-arrested-refusing-leave-whites-seat/

https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/12/us/homer-plessy-pardon/index.html

https://www.timetoast.com/timelines/unit-2-key-terms-d8bb77ad-fde8-424d-a32e-7af0a1f3d16e