Plessy v. Ferguson: Separate But Equal Doctrine

Overview

• Plessy v. Ferguson was a landmark Supreme Court decision made in 1896.
• Established the constitutionality of racial segregation under the "separate but equal" doctrine.
• Originated from an 1892 incident involving Homer Plessy, an African American train passenger.
• Supreme Court ruled that a legal distinction between races was constitutional.
• Paved the way for Jim Crow laws and racially separate public accommodations.

Background and Context

• Following the Compromise of 1877, federal troops withdrew from the South, ending Reconstruction.
• Southern state legislatures, under Democratic control, reinforced white supremacy.
• Promise of equality from the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments receded for Southern Black people.
• The 1880s saw the introduction of laws requiring segregated railroad cars.
• Florida was the first state to mandate segregated railroad cars in 1887, followed by several others.

Black Resistance to Segregation

• Jim Crow laws prompted resistance from the Black community in New Orleans.
• Louisiana law of 1890 required separate railway carriages for white and colored races, supposed to be equal in facilities.
• Homer Adolph Plessy was the plaintiff in a test case against the law.
• Plessy, of mixed race, was arrested for sitting in a whites-only car and refusing to leave.
• He claimed the law violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.

Supreme Court Ruling

• By 1896, segregation and Black disenfranchisement were prevalent in the South and tolerated by the North.
• Supreme Court's verdict on May 18, 1896, upheld "separate-but-equal" facilities for intrastate railroads.
• Ruled that the 14th Amendment's protections did not extend to social rights.
• Justice Henry Brown argued that enforced separation did not imply inferiority of the colored race.

John Marshall Harlan's Dissent

• Justice John Marshall Harlan dissented, arguing segregation violated constitutional equality.
• Believed racial separation was a "badge of servitude," inconsistent with civil freedom and equality.
• His dissent highlighted the inconsistency with the Constitution.

Significance of Plessy v. Ferguson

• The decision institutionalized the separate but equal doctrine, underpinning Jim Crow laws.
• Sanctioned segregation in various public facilities, including schools, transport, and theaters.
• It wasn't until Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 that the Supreme Court would overturn this doctrine.
• Chief Justice Earl Warren in 1954 declared segregated schools "inherently unequal."

Sources

• C. Vann Woodward's article "Plessy v. Ferguson: The Birth of Jim Crow."
• PBS: The Supreme Court, The First Hundred Years.
• Louis Menand's article in The New Yorker.
• Library of Congress, Today in History.