Plessy v. Ferguson

Plessy v. Ferguson was a landmark decision made by the Supreme Court. Back in 1892 Homer Plessy road a train down in East Louisiana that was for white people only. Plessy was one-eighth black and seven-eighths white. He was born a free person but is still considered black under the Louisiana law. Since Plessy was classified as being black, he was instructed to sit in the car for colored people. Plessy fought for his right to ride in the white car, but doing so, he was arrested and put in jail.

The railroad had the right to deny him his seat in the white car because judge Ferguson ruled that as long as the railroads stay within the state of Louisiana, he had the right to control the railroad companies. The Committee of citizens took Plessys case to the Supreme Court to see if they could overrule Ferguson's decision, and they did not. Louisiana still had their segregation rights which was protected by federal law.

In conclusion, the railroad cars for the blacks were the same as the the railroads for the whites. Unlike the public facilities. The law states that segregation is legal as long as the facilities are equal. The Southern state governments did not want to allow the facilities to be the same. Finally in 1897 Plessy was guilty and ended up paying the fine.

Blogs

Plessy v. Ferguson

Comments