2nd-Plessy+vs.+Ferguson

Plessy vs. Fergusson In 1890, the State of Louisiana passed a law which required African Americans and Whites to be seated separately on railroads. The law specified that African Americans and Whites should be seated on separate railroad cars, but that the accommodations should be kept “equal.” This new law was based on the “separate but equal” concept. The penalty for violating this law was a $25 fine or up to 20 days in jail. This law upset several African Americans and Whites from New Orleans. They decided to do something about it. They formed an association called “The Citizens’ Committee.” The goal of this association was to repeal this new law. The committee hired Albion W. Tourgée to be their lead lawyer. Tourgée, who was a famous lawyer, agreed to help free of charge. The committee also got help from Hormer Plessy to challenge this new law. Plessy was a shoemaker from New Orleans. He was one-eighth black, and could easily pass for a white person. In fact, all his family could pass as white, but was still considered by the laws of Louisiana as black.

Because Plessy was very light skinned, he was able to buy a first class ticket on the train to Covington, and take a seat in the “White Only” car. However, when the conductor arrived, Plessy told him that he was one-eight black. When the conductor asked him to move to the colored car, Plessy refused. The conductor then called the police, and Plessy was arrested and jailed for one night.

A month after his arrest, Plessy went on trial. The Committee’s lawyer, Tourgée, argued in front of Judge Fergusson that Plessy’s civil rights under the 13th and 14th Amendments to the Constitution were violated. Judge Fergusson was known to have ruled, in previous cases, against separate cars for “interstate” railroad travel. However, Judge Fergusson ruled against Plessy in this case because he thought that a State has the right to have segregation laws within its own boundaries. Fergusson’s ruling was upheld by the Louisiana’s Supreme Court soon after. In 1896, Plessy vs. Fergusson was reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court. The Supreme Court too ruled against Plessy with an eight to one majority.

This ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court was used by many Southern States to expand the concept of equal but separate to other areas such as schools, restaurants, hotels, etc…Fortunately, the separate but equal concept was struck down in 1954 by the U.S. Supreme Court in the “Brown vs. Board of Education” case.

On a personal level, I think that, as a country, we have come a long way towards race equality. By electing an African American as President, the American people have given a lesson in tolerance to the rest of the world.

__References: __ 1. Robinson, S. (2007). //The Plessy vs. Fergusson.// Retrieved (2010, February 27) from [] 2. The Wikipedia (2010). //Plessy v. Fergusson.// Retrieved (2010, February 27) from []. 3. Zimmerman, T. (1997). //Plessy v. Fergusson//. Retrieved (2010, February27) from [].