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What Has Helped Change The United States Segregation Laws? Throughout time, there has not been equality between the races. Court cases, here in the United States, have tried to create racial equality, but did they really work? How did the cases really change racial equality? In To Kill A Mockingbird this same sort of question was come upon. Why was Separate but Equal here and why was it legal?
Plessy vs. Ferguson is probably one of the most famous court cases that deals with the de-segregation of the United States. On June 7, 1892, a man named Homer Plessy was jailed for riding in a white-only railway car. Plessy was only 1 / 8 black though.
He was 7 / 8 s Caucasian, yet still considered black. Therefore, by Louisiana state law, he could not ride in the white only car. (Back then if you were more than 1 / 8 black, you were considered black. ) He wanted to get from New Orleans to Covington, but was jailed just because he wouldnt sit in a black only car (Equality for). When the case made it to trial, the judge was a Massachusetts lawyer by the name of John Howard Ferguson. He himself had earlier said that a train car law was unconstitutional if the train traveled through several states.
Then, later, he believed that Louisiana could regulate train companies that only operate in the state (Plessy v. ). When the State of Louisiana found Mr. Plessy guilty as charged, he appealed it to the Supreme Court of Louisiana. Those judges up-held the ruling of the lower courts. He then appealed the case to the Supreme Court of the United States, who once again, found him guilty as charged (Plessy vs. ). The Supreme Court rules 8 to 1, that Separate but Equal was legal.
This meant that there could be separate facilities for blacks and whites. It also set the precedent that separate facilities for the different races were constitutional as long as they were equal (Plessy vs. ). This monumental decision would stand for more than 60 yrs. until the next big case would change the course of history in the United States once again (Plessy vs. ). Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas In the fall of 1950, members of the NAACP filed a lawsuit in Topeka, Kansas.
The Brown vs. Board of Edu. (As it would come to be known as) did not consist of only Topeka, Kansas. In fact, it consisted of Washington D. C. , Virginia, Delaware, South Carolina, and Kansas. Soon all the cases were combined to form the case of Brown Vs. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas.
The cases head lawyer was Thurgood Marshall. He said during arguing the case that separating children by race was inherently unequal and a violation of the 14 th amendments requirement that all people be treated equally (q. in Phelps). The separate but equal schooling that was allowed by the Plessy vs. Ferguson case violated equal protection clause of the 14 th amendment. Yet, the NAACP had never claimed that the black schools were physically worse.
The U. S. Supreme Court under chief Justice Earl Warren heard the case. After much pressure from the Chief Justice for the court to have a unanimous decision, it was finally reached.
Separate but Equal was no longer legal. The NAACP had won their case. Public schools were forced to become integrated (Whiting). Over the years however, the school board of Topeka has voted numerous times to appeal the case.
The case has been re-visited 4 times in the last 40 yrs (Phelps). The Brown case set the stage for more aggressive decision making from the Supreme Court. Between Congress and the SC, many civil rights acts were passed. Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. Both cases dealt with rights for the black race. The Brown case set up de-segregated schools.
That next school year, the schools opened up de-segregated, with black children all over the country entering de-segregated schools. The case also gave a centralized voice to the Federal Government in the education policy. The course of history was significantly changed just by these two cases. First separate but equal was set up, and then the Supreme Court repealed their decision and made segregation illegal. Where would our country have been without these two cases? What would our country be like?
Bibliography: Brown vs. Board of Education- 1954, N. page. Online. Internet. 9 May 2000. Available WWW: web Equality 100 years After Plessy.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 17 May 1996. Harris, Eric R. Plessy vs. Ferguson 1892. 8 May 1997 N.
Page. Online. Internet. 10 May 2000 Available WWW: web Kaolin, Clarence. Infamous Separate But Equal ruling came 100 Years Ago. Capital Times (Madison, WI). 2 January 1996.
Phelps, Timothy M. Its Brown vs. Board all over again Supreme Court Asked to weigh historic case. Newsday. 14 February 1993. Plessy vs. Ferguson.
N. page. Online. Internet. 9 May 2000. Available WWW: web Plessy vs. Ferguson.
N. page. Online. Internet. 10 May 2000.
Available WWW: web Whiting, Brent. High Court Revolutionized U. S. This Century. The Arizona Republic. 12 December 1999.
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Research essay sample on Separate But Equal Board Of Education
