Homer Adolph Plessy was born to a family of mixed racial heritage. Though some people think of Plessy as being a very brave, confident, and heroic black figure, Plessy was actually only 1/8 black, and white enough that his family was considered white in some places. He and his family members were considered "free people of color," people who were never enslaved during the slavery era. He was just an average married man with the profession of a shoemaker until he took up social activism. Which then he served as the vice president of the Justice, Protective, Educational, and Social Club whose goals were to improve New Orlean's educational system.
Plessy v Ferguson:
Although many people may envision Plessy as being full black and sitting on the whites-only creating chaos with whites violently demanding him to get out, no one actually thought of him as black and he could buy and ticket and sit. People only started demanding him to get out, only once he told the conductor that he was part black. In my opinion, he still is a heroic figure because he could have just stayed quiet, and nobody would have known, but he made his decision and knew that he wanted to stand for it. The case was brought to the Supreme Court. Plessy argued that his actions were protected under the Fourteenth Amendment which stated that all citizens, including African Americans, are entitled to equal rights. Associate Justice Henry Billings Brown argued against him saying that the Fourteenth Amendment protects African Americans' legal equality but not their social equality. The majority agreed except for one that argued that the constitution was color-blind (color inclusive.) Plessy lost the case 7 to 1 (with one not voting). This caused the "separate but equal" laws which were not beneficial to the African Americans because the South had their own corrupt definitions of "equal."
Even though Homer Plessy (sadly) lost, by doing what he did, he took a big leap toward racial equality and this would shape the future. Many people would no longer bite down and let their rights slip out of their fingers; they would stand up and fight.
Homer Plessy
Duignan, Brian. “Plessy v. Ferguson.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 11 May 2018, www.britannica.com/event/Plessy-v-Ferguson-1896.
“Homer Plessy.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 3 Feb. 2016, www.biography.com/people/homer-plessy-21105789.
1 comment:
Although I realize that many people at the time viewed African-Americans as unworthy of equality, I am slightly confused at the lack of logic in the Justices' argument against social equality. Of course the law at the time did not protect social equality, but I do not see how it could be argued that legal equality(which all the justices admitted was protected) does not protect people's right to not be segregated in public places. I'm also not entirely clear on what the legal definition of "African-American" at the time. Since Plessy was only one-eighth black and was considered white by some, how did the Supreme Court justify discriminating against him? Was it simply a case of not wanting to admit that race is quite an abstract concept that is difficult to define, in legal terms or otherwise?
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