June 7, 1892, Homer Plessy was put into jail for sitting in a whites only train cart. This stirred up a lot of the racist controversy and eventually got African Americans equal rights.
Plessy looked a white man but because one of his ancestors was black he was considered colored. Even if it was on 1/8th african american under Louisiana law he was still considered to be black. After this issue, Louisiana passed a law to segregating carriers in 1892. The issue was still not settling with the black citizens. A black civil rights group took this case to the courts. Plessy decided to sit in the white cart and said he was black and got arrested just so it could be taking to the courts.
Once in the courts, Plessy's lawyer stated that it violated the 13th and 14th amendments. Finally in 1896, it went to the Supreme Court. The decision was 7 to 1. In 1890 Louisiana passed a law Seperate Car act that made segregated railroad cars.
Personally, Plessy was treated very badly. He was just as equal as everybody else no matter what color he was. This was probably not the only time this happend. I am very glad that we gotten over most of the racial occurences over time.
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