...Cases of Racism This Civil Rights Act is a challenge to all of us to go to work in our communities and our states, in our homes and in our hearts, to eliminate the last vestiges of injustice in our beloved country" once said by Lyndon b. Johnson. All through out history their has been times were African Americans were treated poorly like the following (true) historical events that changed or altered the future. The following three are true Dred Scott vs. Sanford, Brown vs. board, and Plessy vs. Ferguson.these three cases all had one thing in common African Americans were being accused because of there color. In Plessy v. Ferguson, the Court upheld a Louisiana law requiring restaurants, hotels, hospitals, and other public places to serve African Americans in separate, but ostensibly equal, accommodations. In establishing the separate but equal" doctrine, the Court said that segregation is "universally recognized as within the competency of states in the exercise of their police powers." In the sole dissent, Justice John Marshall Harlan -- a former slaveowner -- said the ruling would "stimulate aggressions, more or less brutal, upon the admitted rights of colored citizens. They were allowed to go in any public place because they saw that it was against the 14th amendment.this was a huge step...
Words: 590 - Pages: 3
...Brown v. Board of Education Brown v. Board of education case took place in 1954. It is one of the most important cases in the American history of racial prejudice. The U.S. Supreme Court recognized separate schools for blacks and whites unconstitutional. This decision became an important event of struggle against racial segregation in the United States. The Brown case proved that there is no way a separation on the base of race to be in a democratic society. Brown v. Board of education is not a case just about education and children, it is a case of everybody being equal. Brown v. Board of Education was a beginning for American people to understand that separate but equal is not the same. The Brown case revealed this. It was the reason why blacks and whites do not have separate accomodations any more. Separate and equal does not exist any more, Brown v. Board of eduacation made everyone equal. The first case in which African American challenged the doctrine of separate but equal in the United States public education system was in Boston Massachusetts in 1849. Prior to Brown v. Board (1954), from 1881 to 1949 there were eleven cases initiated to try an integrate schools in Kansas. The schools that the African American children attended were not equal to their white counterparts. Most of the time the African American students had to travel farther than white students to get to their schools. The schools for African Americans were run down with-of-date...
Words: 2495 - Pages: 10
...An incident in 1892 involving an African American man Homer Plessy refused to sit in a Jim Crow car breaking a Louisiana law. In 1890 the law was put into play providing for “equal but separate accommodations for the white and colored races” on its railroads. Plessy brought before Judge John H. Ferguson of criminal court for New Orleans, who upheld the law. The law later challenged by the Supreme Court on the grounds that it conflicted within the thirteenth and fourteenth amendment. The court later said that the law did not conflict with the Thirteenth amendment. The Court avoided discussion of the protection granted by the clause in the Fourteenth Amendment that forbids the states to make laws depriving citizens of their “privileges or...
Words: 2489 - Pages: 10
...The case of Plessy vs. Ferguson established the separate but equal doctrine that was prevalent throughout life in the South for over fifty years. The case involved a man by the name of Homer Adolph Plessy, who was a colored shoemaker from New Orleans, Louisiana. He was only 1/8 black and 7/8 white, but under Louisiana law he was considered black. It also involved a white Judge by the name of John Howard Ferguson. In 1892 Plessy was asked by the Citizens Committee which was a political group made up of African Americans and Creoles to help them challenge the Separate Car Act, which by Louisiana law separated blacks and whites in railroad cars. If a black was caught sitting in the white section of the cars, they could get either 20 days in jail or a $25 fine. He agreed to help the Committee. On June 7, 1892, Plessy purchased a first-class ticket at the Press Street Station in New Orleans to go to Covington, Louisiana. The railroad didn’t support the Separate Car Law, because of the expense and trouble involved with it. They chose this station for that reason and the station was in on the test as well. He sat in the white only section and waited for the conductor. When the conductor arrived he told him that he was only 1/8 black and that he refused to move to the colored car of the train. A hired detective told Plessy he was violating the law but he still refused. Since he would not move to the colored car he was arrested and jailed overnight and released on bond the next...
Words: 778 - Pages: 4
...Before Little Rock, there had been many fights for equality. Some of the main cases are Plessy V. Ferguson and Brown V. Board of Ed. After the Plessy V. Ferguson case it was agreed upon that every school would stay separate, but had to be equal, and this created the Plessy Doctrine. How could it be equal if they were separate? Even though they were supposed to be equal, the resources and education were dramatically different. Later in 1954 Linda Brown’s father decided he was not going...
Words: 1557 - Pages: 7
...Ferguson set up the beginning of the Brown v. Board case. Plessy v. Ferguson was a case brought to the supreme court in 1896 fighting to see whether or not segregation of public facilities such as parks, schools, pools etc., were constitutional. Homer Plessy brought this to court because he refused to sit in the back of a train car meant for blacks. The supreme court came to the conclusion that Plessy’s rights had not been violated. They also came to the conclusion that the state law is just a legal distinction and it doesn’t violate the 13 or the 14th amendments. Ferguson winning this case allowed Jim Crow Laws could be enforced against the African American...
Words: 1120 - Pages: 5
...Throughout history humans have been forced to face the daunting, frightening fact that we do not know who we are or where we are going. It has always been the authorities – the political, the religious, and the education authorities – that have attempted to comfort us by administering order, rules, and regulations; in effect they have successfully transferred their view of reality into our minds. It is important to question the decisions and ideas of authority, to support this argument one can look into specific historical figures and events. Galileo, Fleming, and the Supreme Court case Brown v Board of Education all exemplify the importance of questioning authority. The famous scientific figure Galileo reflects the importance of questioning authority. In 1616, Galileo was forbidden from holding or defending his belief that the Earth revolved around the sun. The Catholic Church, who believed that the Earth was the immovable center of the universe, deemed his belief heretical. After reading Galileo’s published work, scientists were agog at the possibilities brought on by his ideas. In 1633, the Roman Catholic Church forced Galileo to stand trial for his ideas. He had to publically denounce all of his ideas, and then he was convicted of heresy and sentenced to life imprisonment. The rest of his life was spent under house arrest, until his death in 1642. If the conviction of Galileo were never further questioned, science would have suffered an unbearable loss. The questioning...
Words: 510 - Pages: 3
...has contributed to racial equality by the Equal Protection clause. The clause was a deciding factor in cases that involved racism. Though it sometimes limited rights, the Equal Protection clause eventually became a key element to justice. Lum vs. Rice (1927) was a Supreme Court case where the Mississippi education board did not allow a nine year old girl to attend the all-white Rosedale Consolidated School because of her ethnicity. Gong Lum’s daughter, Martha Lum, was Chinese and a native-born in the United States. One day, a superintendent at Rosedale told Martha to leave school because she was not Caucasian. Gong Lum later filed for suit and the state trial court was in his favor. The state took the issue to officials to readmit Martha Lum, however, the Supreme Court opposed the state’s decision. The Supreme Court supported their argument from the Cumming vs. Richmond County Board of Education case (1899) where it showed that schools are allowed to be separated for white and “colored” students. They also focused on whether or not Martha Lum was being denied of her equal protection of the laws from the 14th Amendment. This brought the Supreme Court to uphold the Plessy vs. Ferguson case (1896) by approaching the concept “separate but equal.” They declared that Martha Lum was not white and the Board of Trustees was allowed to exclude her from Rosedale. In 1954, the Brown family went against the Board of Education because they believed segregated schools can never be equal...
Words: 794 - Pages: 4
...of African Americans and each major decision has had a major impact on the American Society. Three Supreme Court decisions in response to cases filed by African Americans have impacted America more than any other decisions and also highlight the gradual development of equal rights in the United States. In 1857 when tensions over slavery ran high, the Dred Scott v. Sanford decision divided the nation into two camps – slavery and antislavery and this ultimately contributed to the Civil War in 1861. Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896 was a major setback in race decisions allowing African Americans to be discriminated...
Words: 1297 - Pages: 6
...Individual Project: Unit 3 Human Rights Analysis Human Rights Analysis The case of Plessy vs. Ferguson established the separate but equal doctrine that was prevalent throughout life in the South for over fifty years. The case involved a man by the name of Homer Adolph Plessy, who was a colored shoemaker from New Orleans, Louisiana. He was only 1/8 black and 7/8 white, but under Louisiana law he was considered black. It also involved a white Judge by the name of John Howard Ferguson. In 1892 Plessy was asked by the Citizens Committee which was a political group made up of African Americans and Creoles to help them challenge the Separate Car Act, which by Louisiana law separated blacks and whites in railroad cars. If a black was caught sitting in the white section of the cars, they could get either 20 days in jail or a $25 fine. He agreed to help the Committee. On June 7, 1892, Plessy purchased a first-class ticket at the Press Street Station in New Orleans to go to Covington, Louisiana. The railroad didn’t support the Separate Car Law, because of the expense and trouble involved with it. They chose this station for that reason and the station was in on the test as well. He sat in the white only section and waited for the conductor. When the conductor arrived he told him that he was only 1/8 black and that he refused to move to the colored car of the train. A hired detective told Plessy he was violating the law but he still refused. Since he would not move to the colored...
Words: 1022 - Pages: 5
...on race (NAACP.org). The NAACP examines government policies and public agenda that may cause hindrance to the advancement of African Americans. In 1896, in a case between Plessy vs. Ferguson, the United States Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of state laws requiring racial segregation in public facilities; this decision was detrimental to our society (http://wwwi.pbs.org/wnet/imcrow/storie_events_plessy.html). In 1954 the NAACP backed the efforts of the case of Brown vs. The Board of Education, which lead to a decision that, “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal” (http://www.watson.org/~lisa/blackhistory/early-civilrights/brown.html). The monumental impact of this case is still widely demonstrated today. The government policy of affirmative action is undoubtedly a useful tool in the efforts of the NAACP. In 1971 the NAACP backed the efforts of the case of Griggs vs. Duke Power Company; a decision was made that reflected the policy of fair treatment by affirmative action (lcrm.lib.unc.edu/blog/index.php/2012/03/08/remembering-griigs-v.-duke-power-company/). Today there are some who support the policy of affirmative action, and some who are opposed, and some who feel we needed affirmative action at one time but now are no longer in need of it. In 2009 the plaintiffs of the case of Ricci vs. DeStefano sued the city of New Haven, Connecticut alleging they were discriminated against in regards to promotion (http://.latimes.com/.../la-oe-westfaulcon24-2009apr24...
Words: 583 - Pages: 3
...Brown v. Board Of Education of Topeka is one of the most important court cases in the history of the United States. The case ultimately changed the face of our nation. The case which took place in in 1954 when the united states was a turmoil of hate and discrimination. Brown vs. Board of Education set a precedent of many cases that were to come. The decision overruled the Plessy v. Ferguson decision of “separate but equal”. Plessy v. Ferguson violated the equal protection clause of the 14th and 15th amendments which granted rights to black people, and the . Brown v. Board of Education not only overruled the decision but also set the standard of many civil rights cases to come. The case was a stepping stone to equal rights to all people of...
Words: 605 - Pages: 3
...Brown v. Board of Education The case of brown v. board of education was one of the biggest turning points for African Americans to becoming accepted into white society at the time. Brown vs. Board of education to this day remains one of, if not the most important cases that African Americans have brought to the surface for the better of the United States. Brown v. Board of Education was not simply about children and education (Silent Covenants pg 11); it was about being equal in a society that claims African Americans were treated equal, when in fact they were definitely not. This case was the starting point for many Americans to realize that separate but equal did not work. The separate but equal label did not make sense either, the circumstances were clearly not separate but equal. Brown v. Board of Education brought this out, this case was the reason that blacks and whites no longer have separate restrooms and water fountains, this was the case that truly destroyed the saying separate but equal, Brown vs. Board of education truly made everyone equal. The case started in Topeka, Kansas, a black third-grader named Linda Brown had to walk one mile through a railroad switchyard to get to her black elementary school, even though a white elementary school was only seven blocks away. Linda's father, Oliver Brown, tried to enroll her in the white elementary school seven blocks from her house, but the principal of the school refused simply because the child was black. Brown went...
Words: 1236 - Pages: 5
...Nicole Cummings POSU 343 Signature Assignment October 16, 2014 Brown vs. Board of Education The court case docketed Brown vs. Board of education was a culmination of several individuals seeking constitutional justice for their civil liberties. These brave individuals changed the course of history. This landmark case changed racial segregation in schools and allowed equal education to all regardless of race. Although the Declaration of Independence declared that all men were created equal, it wasn’t for many years after the ending of slavery that equal rights were strengthened and the effects of slavery were abolished. Amendments to the constitution were put into effect to equal out the balance of the laws due to racial segregation, but despite these amendments African-Americans were rarely given the equal treatment as their white counterparts. Many states, especially in the south, made segregation a legal practice. What became known as Jim Crow Laws, were regulations that enabled separate bathrooms, busses, and schools simply based on the color of their skin. Many people disagreed with these unjust laws, but only few made their opinion known in court. One of the first cases to be heard regarding unmerited segregation was brought to the Supreme Court by a gentleman by the name of Homer Plessy. Mr. Plessy refused to give up his seat on the train to a white man and was therefore arrested. He knew that this arrest violated the 14th amendments “equal protection clause”...
Words: 2475 - Pages: 10
...https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Booker_T._Washington Malcom X- Malcolm X, born Malcolm Little and later also known as el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz, was an African-American Muslim minister and human rights activist.- https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=malcolm+x Civil Rights Act Of 1964- The Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Pub.L. 88–352, 78 Stat. 241, enacted July 2, 1964) is a landmark piece of civil rights legislation in the United States that outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Rights_Act_of_1964 Brown Vs Board Of Education- Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483, was a landmark United States Supreme Court case in which the Court declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students to be unconstitutional.- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_v._Board_of_Education Plessy Vs Ferguson- Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537, was a landmark United States Supreme Court decision upholding the constitutionality of state laws requiring racial segregation in public facilities under...
Words: 844 - Pages: 4
