Homer Plessy was jailed for sitting in a railroad car designated for whites only. Plessy was in fact seven eighths white and one eighth black which by Louisiana law meant he was treated as an African American and required to sit in the car designated for "colored" patrons. When Plessy lost his court case, his appeal made it to the US Supreme Court. The Court ruled 7-1 that the Louisiana law requiring that the races be separated did not violate the thirteenth or fourteenth amendments to the Constitution as long as the facilities were deemed equal. Plessy v. Ferguson is an extremely important court case in that it gave legal standing to this issue of everyone being equal.
You need to be a member of History 360 to add comments!
Comments