Plessy v,Ferguson
Louisiana Separate Car Act
(1890),"equal but separate
accommodations”
$25
20 days
in jail
PE
NA
LT
Y
Homer Plessy
30,shoemaker
7/8white; 1/8black
colored car 1892
Judge John Howard Ferguson
"unconstitutional
on trains that
traveled through
several states."
Ferguson found Plessy
guilty of refusing to leave
the white car,
In 1896,the Supreme Court of the United States found
Homer Plessy guilty once again,Justice Henry Brown,the
speaker for the eight-person majority,wrote,"That [the
Separate Car Act] does not conflict with the Thirteenth
Amendment,which abolished slavery...is too clear for
argument...A statute which implies merely a legal distinction
between the white and colored races …has no tendency to
destroy the legal equality of the two races...The object of the
[Fourteenth Amendment] was undoubtedly to enforce the
absolute equality of the two races before the law,but in the
nature of things it could not have been intended to abolish
distinctions based upon color,or to enforce social,as
distinguished from political equality,or a commingling of
the two races upon terms unsatisfactory to either."
John Marshall Harlan
(1833-1911)
"Our constitution is colorblind,and
neither knows nor tolerates classes
among citizens,In respect of civil
rights,all citizens are equal before the
law,The humblest is the peer of the
most powerful.,,The arbitrary
separation of citizens on the basis of
race,while they are on a public
highway,is a badge of servitude
wholly inconsistent with the civil
freedom and the equality before the
law established by the Constitution,It
cannot be justified upon any legal
grounds."
Brown v,Board of Education
A black third-grader Linda Brown,
1951,Topeka,Kansas
“…the doctrine of ?separate
but equal? has no place.”
Chief Justice Earl Warren,
1954
On May 17,1954,Chief Justice Earl Warren read the decision
of the unanimous Court:
"We come then to the question presented,Does segregation of
children in public schools solely on the basis of race,even
though the physical facilities and other "tangible" factors may
be equal,deprive the children of the minority group of equal
educational opportunities? We believe that it does...We
conclude that in the field of public education the doctrine of
'separate but equal' has no place,Separate educational
facilities are inherently unequal,Therefore,we hold that the
plaintiffs and others similarly situated for whom the actions
have been brought are,by reason of the segregation
complained of,deprived of the equal protection of the laws
guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment,
Louisiana Separate Car Act
(1890),"equal but separate
accommodations”
$25
20 days
in jail
PE
NA
LT
Y
Homer Plessy
30,shoemaker
7/8white; 1/8black
colored car 1892
Judge John Howard Ferguson
"unconstitutional
on trains that
traveled through
several states."
Ferguson found Plessy
guilty of refusing to leave
the white car,
In 1896,the Supreme Court of the United States found
Homer Plessy guilty once again,Justice Henry Brown,the
speaker for the eight-person majority,wrote,"That [the
Separate Car Act] does not conflict with the Thirteenth
Amendment,which abolished slavery...is too clear for
argument...A statute which implies merely a legal distinction
between the white and colored races …has no tendency to
destroy the legal equality of the two races...The object of the
[Fourteenth Amendment] was undoubtedly to enforce the
absolute equality of the two races before the law,but in the
nature of things it could not have been intended to abolish
distinctions based upon color,or to enforce social,as
distinguished from political equality,or a commingling of
the two races upon terms unsatisfactory to either."
John Marshall Harlan
(1833-1911)
"Our constitution is colorblind,and
neither knows nor tolerates classes
among citizens,In respect of civil
rights,all citizens are equal before the
law,The humblest is the peer of the
most powerful.,,The arbitrary
separation of citizens on the basis of
race,while they are on a public
highway,is a badge of servitude
wholly inconsistent with the civil
freedom and the equality before the
law established by the Constitution,It
cannot be justified upon any legal
grounds."
Brown v,Board of Education
A black third-grader Linda Brown,
1951,Topeka,Kansas
“…the doctrine of ?separate
but equal? has no place.”
Chief Justice Earl Warren,
1954
On May 17,1954,Chief Justice Earl Warren read the decision
of the unanimous Court:
"We come then to the question presented,Does segregation of
children in public schools solely on the basis of race,even
though the physical facilities and other "tangible" factors may
be equal,deprive the children of the minority group of equal
educational opportunities? We believe that it does...We
conclude that in the field of public education the doctrine of
'separate but equal' has no place,Separate educational
facilities are inherently unequal,Therefore,we hold that the
plaintiffs and others similarly situated for whom the actions
have been brought are,by reason of the segregation
complained of,deprived of the equal protection of the laws
guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment,
