Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
In 1896, a man of mostly Caucasian descent, Homer Plessy, bought a first-class ticket for a Louisiana train going from New Orleans to Covington. On the train, he was ordered to move back to the colored car, because under Louisiana law, races were required to have separate railway cars. Upon his refusal, Plessy was arrested and borught to trial in a Louisiana court, where judge Howard Ferguson ruled against him. Plessy then brought the case to the supreme court, which upheld judge Ferguson's ruling on the grounds that "separate but equal" was constitutional as long as the facilities provided were indeed equal, a subjective term that legitimized segregation in all states and made the separate but equal doctrine the policy of the south until the case of Brown v Board of Ed over 50 years later.
In 1896, a man of mostly Caucasian descent, Homer Plessy, bought a first-class ticket for a Louisiana train going from New Orleans to Covington. On the train, he was ordered to move back to the colored car, because under Louisiana law, races were required to have separate railway cars. Upon his refusal, Plessy was arrested and borught to trial in a Louisiana court, where judge Howard Ferguson ruled against him. Plessy then brought the case to the supreme court, which upheld judge Ferguson's ruling on the grounds that "separate but equal" was constitutional as long as the facilities provided were indeed equal, a subjective term that legitimized segregation in all states and made the separate but equal doctrine the policy of the south until the case of Brown v Board of Ed over 50 years later.