Civil Rights Movement: The Plessy V. Ferguson Case

556 Words2 Pages

"We all should know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry, and we must understand that all the threads of the tapestry are equal in value no matter what their color (Maya Angelou). " This statement provides a clear understanding of how things work. It explains that people are equal, no matter what race, gender, or sexuality they are. During the civil rights movement people were blinded by the view that we weren't equal and that is completely wrong. Three court cases were a great involvement with the civil rights movement, some of them are: Plessy v. Ferguson, Loving v. Virginia, Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education, they created a big impact in the civil rights movement and a bigger impact in history. The first case that made a impact is the Plessy v. Ferguson case. In this there was a black man who sat in a white mans cart on a train. This back then was against the law. Though this wasn't fair it didn't matter. When Plessy sat down in the white mans cart he refused to get up. When he refused he was forcefully removed and sent to jail. "was challenged by the conductor, and was arrested and charged with violating the state law" (Supreme Court of the …show more content…

Virginia case. This case was about how an interracial couple wanted to get married and Virginia state said no. This was unfair also. The Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution (Constitution) prohibits classifications drawn by any statute that constitutes arbitrary and invidious discrimination. The fact that Virginia bans only interracial marriages involving whites is proof that the miscegenation statutes exist for no purposes independent of those based on arbitrary and invidious racial discrimination (case briefs). Virginia had a law that said black and white people could not marry. At the end of the case the Supreme Court decision was that to have a law that rules against interracial marriage was

Show More
Related

  • Plessy V. Ferguson And The 14th Amendment

    1113 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout history, segregation has always been a part of United States history. This is showed through the relationships between the blacks and whites, the whites had a master-slave relationship and the blacks had a slave-master relationship. And this is also true after the civil war, when the blacks attained rights! Even though they had obtained rights the whites were always one step above them and lead superiority over them continuously. This is true in the Supreme court case “Plessy v. Ferguson”. The Court case ruled that blacks and whites had to have separate facilities and it was only constitutional if the facilities were equal. this means that they also constituted that this was not a violation of the 13th and 14th amendment because they weren 't considered slaves and had “equal” facilities even though they were separate. Even if the Supreme court case “Plessy v. Ferguson” set the precedent that separate but equal was correct, I would disagree with that precedent, because they interpreted

    Read More

  • Miscegenation Case Analysis

    991 Words  | 2 Pages

    A unanimous Supreme Court decision overturned the Lovings convictions on June 12, 1967. The Supreme Court ruled that Virginia’s anti-miscegenation statute violated the Fourteenth Amendment, specifically the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause. Chief Justice Warren’s opinion stated that the Constitution provide citizens “the freedom to marry, or not marry, a person of another race resides with the individual and cannot be infringed by the State.”

    Read More

  • Plessy vs. Ferguson: A Case for Desegregation

    1143 Words  | 3 Pages

    Homer Plessy vs. the Honorable John H. Ferguson ignited the spark in our nation that ultimately led to the desegregation of our schools, which is shown in the equality of education that is given to all races across the country today. “The Plessy decision set the precedent that ‘separate’ facilities for blacks and whites were constitutional as long as they were ‘equal’” (“The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow”). The case of Plessy vs. Ferguson not only illuminated the racial inequality within our education system, but also brought to light how the standard of ‘separate but equal’ affected every aspect of African American lives.

    Read More

  • Plessy V. Ferguson Case Study

    589 Words  | 2 Pages

    In 1896 the case of Plessy v. Ferguson occurred and has been viewed by may people, including myself, to be very important in history. Homer Plessy, the plaintiff in this case, was a light skinned black man, who was arrested for violating the Separate Car Act when he entered a car specifically designated for white passengers on the East Louisiana Railroad in New Orleans (Hartman 99). Judge John H. Ferguson was the presiding judge of the Louisiana Criminal District Court. Why was it that states can constitutionally enact legislation to require separate accommodations in interstate commerce based off of a person’s race? This was the issue of the case. The Louisiana Statute under review in Plessy required railway companies carrying passengers in their coaches in that state to provide equal but separate accommodations for the white, and colored races and no persons were permitted to occupy seats in coaches other than the ones assigned to them based on race. If passengers failed to obey these rules...

    Read More

  • Analysis of Law Cases

    1766 Words  | 4 Pages

    Issue: The Sate of Virginia did not allowed marriages between persons of different racial classification. Was the State of Virginia violating the "Equal Protection" and the "Due Process" clauses of the 14th amendment? Does the state have the power to determine or place restrictions in regards to interracial marriages and not violate the constitution?

    Read More

  • Discrimination Against African Americans In The 1800s

    413 Words  | 1 Pages

    The Plessy v Ferguson case was an example that there was still discrimination in America. In 1890, Louisiana passed a law called the Separate Car Act that says all railroad

    Read More

  • How Did The Plessy V. Ferguson Case

    1086 Words  | 3 Pages

    doctrine of separate but equal that allowed states for the first time to legally segregate

    Read More

  • Maya Angelou, Martin Luther King and the civil Rights Movement

    1369 Words  | 3 Pages

    How would you feel if you were told you can’t sit in the front of the bus or you can’t dine in a certain restaurants because of the color of your skin? The civil rights movement was a movement that held massive numbers of nonviolent protest against racial segregation and discrimination in America especially the southern states during the 1950’s and 60’s. The struggle of African Americans to gain equal rights in America during this time was a major problem. The civil rights movement was not only about stopping racial segregation amongst African Americans but also to challenge the terrible economic, political, and cultural consequences of that time. But with the help of great leaders and organizations in the civil rights movement, help brake the pattern of African Americans being discriminated against and being segregated. Martin Luther King Jr. And Maya Angelou were great leaders who had a huge impact on the civil rights movement; even though Dr. King was in the field marching and protesting to fight against segregation and Angelou wrote poetry to inspire the movement and people aware of segregation, they both helped put an end to segregation here in America (American civil rights movement).

    Read More

  • The Fourteenth Amendment

    730 Words  | 2 Pages

    For some background, this case escalated to the Supreme Court since several groups of same-sex couples from different states, sued state agencies when their marriage was refused to be recognized. As it escalated through appeals, the plaintiffs argued that the states were violating the Equal Protection clause and the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Equal Protection, according to the Constitution refers to the fact that, “any State [shall not] deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law…” (23). The opposition of this case was that, 1) The Constitution does not address same-sex marriage as a policy, and 2) The sovereignty of states regarding the decision. Ultimately, and according to the Oyez project, the Court held that “[the Amendment] guarantees the right to marry as one of the fundamental liberties it protects, and that analysis applies to same-sex couples,” and therefore, same-sex marriage is a fundamental liberty.

    Read More

  • Plessy Vs Ferguson Case Study

    374 Words  | 1 Pages

    The plaintiff argued that the segregation law denied the blacks of the constitutional right under thirteenth and fourteenth that guarantees the U.S. citizens

    Read More

  • Plessy V. Ferguson Case Summary

    1287 Words  | 3 Pages

    This court case, one that impacted many people and the society at the time, began in Topeka, Kansas and heard by the U.S. Supreme Court. It was actually two decisions, Brown I and Brown II, and five cases; all centered around racial segregation. The Supreme Court initially did not want to take on the case of racial segregation because of the 1896 case Plessy v. Ferguson. This previous case, between Homer Plessy and John Ferguson, had ruled that separate but equal facilities were constitutional. It set a precedent that the Supreme Court itself did not want to challenge. In summary, this case was established when Plessy, a man with a white appearance but had an African American background, opted for a seat in a “white” section of a car on the

    Read More

  • The Warren Court Effects

    840 Words  | 2 Pages

    individuals accused of crimes. Some of these court cases are Brown v. Board of education, which allowed black students equal educational opportunities as white students. And also the Miranda v. Arizona case, which established that criminal defendants had a right to know their rights under the constitution prior to questioning by law enforcement.

    Read More

  • The Long Struggle for Civil Rights

    2179 Words  | 5 Pages

    African Americans have a history of struggles because of racism and prejudices. Ever since the end of the Civil War, they struggled to benefit from their full rights that the Constitution promised. The fourteenth Amendment, which defined national citizenship, was passed in 1866. Even though African Americans were promised citizenship, they were still treated as if they were unequal. The South had an extremely difficult time accepting African Americans as equals, and did anything they could to prevent the desegregation of all races. During the Reconstruction Era, there were plans to end segregation; however, past prejudices and personal beliefs elongated the process.

    Read More

  • Why Is Plessy V. Ferguson Important

    509 Words  | 2 Pages

    Louisiana passed a law that required segregation between different races is constitutional under the 14th Amendment, as long as the “separate but equal doctrine” is obliged between the different races. The Plessy v. Ferguson case claimed that segregation was legal, as long as equal facilities were provided for both races. The associate justices voted 7 to 1. The majority opinion was written by Henry B. Brown and the opinion was written by Justice John M. Harlan. In 1954, Brown v. Board of Education case overturned the decision of the Plessy v. Ferguson case ruling.

    Read More

  • The Civil Rights Movement

    916 Words  | 2 Pages

    Historically, the Civil Rights Movement was a time during the 1950’s and 60’s to eliminate segregation and gain equal rights. Looking back on all the events, and dynamic figures it produced, this description is very vague. In order to fully understand the Civil Rights Movement, you have to go back to its origin. Most people believe that Rosa Parks began the whole civil rights movement. She did in fact propel the Civil Rights Movement to unprecedented heights but, its origin began in 1954 with Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka. Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka was the cornerstone for change in American History as a whole. Even before our nation birthed the controversial ruling on May 17, 1954 that stated separate educational facilities were inherently unequal, there was Plessy vs. Ferguson in 1896 that argued by declaring that state laws establish separate public schools for black and white students denied black children equal educational opportunities. Some may argue that Plessy vs. Ferguson is in fact backdrop for the Civil Rights Movement, but I disagree. Plessy vs. Ferguson was ahead of it’s time so to speak. “Separate but equal” thinking remained the body of teachings in America until it was later reputed by Brown vs. Board of Education. In 1955 when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat, and prompted The Montgomery Bus Boycott led by one of the most pivotal leaders of the American Civil Rights Movement, Martin Luther King Jr. After the gruesome death of Emmett Till in 1955 in which the main suspects were acquitted of beating, shooting, and throwing the fourteen year old African American boy in the Tallahatchie River, for “whistling at a white woman”, this country was well overdo for change.

    Read More

More about Civil Rights Movement: The Plessy V. Ferguson Case

Open Document