The U.S. Supreme Court changes history on May 18, 1896! The Court’s “separate but equal” decision in Plessy v. Ferguson on that date upheld state-imposed Jim Crow laws. It became the legal basis for racial segregation in the United States for the next fifty years. Read more about it!
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How truly equal is "separate but equal"? How can true equality exist between two peoples who are racially segregated everywhere they go? Apparently, this was not an issue for the United States Supreme Court when it decided on the case of Plessy vs. Ferguson in 1896. The Court ruled in favor of separate areas for blacks and whites as long as they were equal, a decision which would prove to hold for almost 60 years until being overruled. This was a situation when the United States Supreme Court misused its power to interpret the Constitution in a way to benefit all peoples of the country. The ruling resulted in a major setback in the struggle for equality between races in the United States and set the stage for racial segregation within the South until the overruling in 1954. 1896 needs to be a constant reminder to the people of our country of the horrible damages done to society when the highest court of law in the land rules against justice and equality.
The case of Plessy vs. Ferguson was one of a combination of rulings passed by the U.S. and state Supreme Courts after Reconstruction. Many of these decisions allowed and even required Jim Crow segregation laws in Southern states. They returned to whites the superiority over blacks that the 13th Amendment had taken away from them after the Civil War. Plessy vs. Ferguson was the final step in erasing the policies put in place during Reconstruction. The Reconstruction Era (1867-1877) was an atte
Even though the Supreme Court had ruled in favor of these separate areas as long as they were equal, it is evident that true equality was never an objective or goal within the South. "Laws permitting, and even requiring (the separation of blacks and whites) in places where they are liable to be brought into contact do not necessarily imply the inferiority of either race to the other.......... The argument also assumes that social prejudice may be overcome by legislation, and that equal rights cannot be secured to the Negro except by an enforced commingling of the two races. We cannot accept this proposition. If the two races are to meet on terms of social equality, it must be the result of natural affinities, a mutual ap
Southern states took advantage of the Plessy vs. Ferguson decision legalizing segregation and began to pass laws like those in Mississippi, requiring segregation and stating that anyone not following the law could be jailed. Though the Supreme Court accepted the proposition that these people could maintain their full equality even while being racially separated, Southern states continued to push this ruling further and further. Peaceful acts by people trying to regain justice often sparked violent responses. For over half a century, these rulings continued to tear apart black and white communities within the South, eating away at any hopes of equality and peacefulness between them.
Jim Crow segregation laws remained legal and in existence for almost 60 years , until a new panel of United States Supreme Court justices ruled that segregation violated rights granted by the Constitution. These "separate but equal" facilities were finally ruled out of existence by the May 17th, 1954 Supreme Court ruling in the case Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka.
There the Court ruled that segregation in schools shows inferiority toward minority children, and ended required racial separation. "Segregation of white and colored children in public schools has a detrimental effect upon colored children. The impact is greater when it is the sanction of the law; for the policy of separating the races is us
How civil is a society in which people are judged and separated into groups by the color of their skin? The Jim Crow laws of the late 1800's and early 1900's contributed to the breakdown of our society, destroying the work of Reconstruction in the South. They widened racial gaps and allowed states to once again single out blacks as the inferior race. When the United States Supreme Court finally stood up against segregation, ruling that racial separation does deprive the rights granted by the 14th Amendment, many common practices were forced to change. The Civil Rights Movement also helped to abolish these practices, but not without much violent resistance. For almost 60 years, segregation had lawfully divided up the peoples of our country and created a racial inequality which had a devastating affect on society. The history of segregation and the Courts' role in it reminds us that the Supreme Court has not and may not always interpret the Constitution in the most equal and beneficial way. When this happens, the citizens of the United States must be willing to join together to overcome the law, if need be, in order to save equality and justice.
~Bibliography~
Cozzens, Lisa. Plessy vs. Ferguson:
//www.watson.org/~lisa/blackhistory/post-civilwar/plessy.html 1995
Encyclopedia Britannica. Jim Crow Law:
//www.britannica.com/event/Jim-Crow-law
1999-2000
Meltzer, Milton. In Their Own Words. Thomas Y. Crowell Company, New York.
"Mob Justice", Upfront, Feb. 28, 2000 p. 20
"Reconstruction by the Numbers", Scolastic Search, Nov./Dec. 1991: pp. 6-7