Essay On Plessy Vs Ferguson

Racial segregation has been an American tradition since the Constitution was ratified back in 1789; granting only white, property owning men as whole citizens. The cases of Plessy vs. Ferguson, an Brown vs. Board of Education have broken this tradition to send off a wave of additional cases during the civil rights movement in the 1960’s. Brave men and women who fought against society have brought this issue into the light, granting them the ability to let equality revolutionize itself since slaves were freed.

In years past, the state of Louisiana passed laws that applied to railroad companies, and this law enforcing the fact that cars on the train needed cars for whites only, and those being for people of color. Yet, this law did
not apply to nurses, or caregivers of the white people riding the trains. Plessy vs. Ferguson consisted of a male of mixed race seating himself on a car full of white people. Ferguson himself did not appear to be of mixed race, both of his parents identified as white, and himself of course identifying as white. Until a conductor of the train decided to look unto his past documents, which revealed that Ferguson himself had a black great grandparent. This action set of a chain of events, it first starting out with the fact that Ferguson refused to give up his seat on the train car. He argued that he paid for the seats, along with the fact he did not need to ride on the other car due to the same reasoning.

Brown vs. Board of Education was brought up by a group of black parents who were infuriated with the American education system. Several factors hindered their children’s quality of education. Factors came into play, such as , the teacher to student ratio of students in black schools was over populated, in comparison to whites only schools, where too many teachers were hired with small class sizes. Black schools were overcrowded and underfunded, children weren’t given desks, but had to sit on the floor of their crowded classrooms, textbooks and material needed weren’t given to the schools, sharing of them caused over usage, were worn out, but nearly never replaced. Teachers in black schools were not given the pay deserved. White schools were funded with plenty of money, yet had a significantly smaller student population. These, among other events brought parents to the action of demanding a better system.

Plessy Vs.
Ferguson set out the events of the fact that all facilities in America were to be “Separate but Equal” clause followed by every state in the country. The majority opinion of the Supreme Court decided that a legal documented distinction, that being your family history, not your physical appearance will determine whether or not you are a person of color. Ferguson brought up the defense that it was hindering his fourteenth amendment right of having the same natural rights as whites in America. The majority opinion did not agree with this case, but then said every facility must have places for both colored and white people, aiding in equal opportunity and rights to both sides. The dissenting opinion of John Marshal Harlan stated that because of the term “white and colored race” among the railroad laws in Louisiana, Ferguson wholly broke the law and should have served time. In fact, that he knew the law, yet still purchased a ticket to ride the white train cars. In short, John Marshall argued that the company is not violating any rights, and that they basically can be racist, what harm is it causing Ferguson? Along with the fact that society cannot be forced to change and integrate people of color and
whites.