Plessy V. Ferguson 1892 Homer Plessy 1/8 black, looked white Under state law he is black Bought train ticket and tried to sit in white section Arrested Louisiana state law provides “equal but separate accommodations” for different races

Con’t Case to Supreme Court Plessy said law violates 13 th and 14 th amendment Supreme Court ruled 8-1 against Plessy 13 th did not apply, no condition of “involuntary servitude” Did not violate 14 th, law did not restrict blacks any different than whites.

14 th Amendment All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Con’t Justices- States have power to separate races in transportation, schools, social situations Justice Brown, the 14 th means that people can be “Separate but Equal”, but the 14 th is not intended to abolish or enforce social and political equality, when neither race wants to be mixed

Effects of Plessy V. Ferguson 14 th amendment undermined Blacks no longer had equal protection under the law Created the American Apartheid Hundreds of laws passed segregating blacks Segregated conditions are inferior to whites

Jim Crow Laws State laws passed in the South to give official support to segregation 100’s existed Segregation laws spread nationwide Restricted rights of blacks Existed until 1954