Essay On Separate But Equal

Submitted By lianalv
Words: 738
Pages: 3
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Liana Viola
Ms. Goodwin
English 9H
22 May 2014
Separate but Equal

The fiction novel "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett is set in Jackson, Mississippi in the 1960s during the civil rights movement. The book is based on African Americans called the help that work for the white people in their homes. The main help in the novel are Aibileen and Minny, Also there are ladies of the junior league that are Skeeter, Miss. Hilly, Mrs. Leefolt, and Celia. Separate but equal was a legal doctrine that justified systems of segregation in the American constitutional law. Separate but equal was an unjust doctrine that wasn’t truly displayed as separate but equal of equality. In separate but equal, public places and services were allowed to be separated by race but must have equal quality within each group's public facilities. In 1896 the doctrine was justified in the Supreme Court case of Plessy vs. Ferguson. Plessy was told to ride on the colored only railway car since he was of mixed ancestry. "Railcars reserved for black travelers were filled with uncomfortable seats and often used for prisoner transport or disruptive, drunk, and disorderly passengers."(Sherman). However Plessy proposed that this was a violation under his constitutional rights. Furthermore, the Supreme Court ruled that railway companies carrying passengers in their cars were to provide equal, but separate understanding for the white and colored races. This established the term "separate but equal" during the process. Separate but equal was applied to schools, voting rights, drinking fountains, churches, and other public facilities. Even though the doctrine required equality, the facilities of the African Americans were of a way lower quality than the white races. Separate but equal was an attempt at segregation that thought people could have equal treatment for whites and blacks while keeping separate facilities for them. Along with segregation against transportation there were still other examples. One being, that the separate schools that white kids went to compared to the schools of black children. For example, in 1915, "The South Carolina public school system spent an average of $23.76 per white child and only $2.19 per black child." (American History). Black students weren’t provided the same services like textbooks, chalkboards, and pencils. Since African Americans weren’t wealthy they couldn’t do much to improve. During the intense time of segregation, "restrictions on public accommodations, transportation, education, and employment"(Daley), were emphasized against blacks. When separate but equal was established they got to use their own public accommodations but they were of terrible quality compared to whites. During the novel the term "separate but equal" was displayed many times. This is showed when Miss Hilly emphasized the construction of separate bathrooms for the help at the white people's houses. Miss Hilly says to Mrs. Leefolt "wouldn’t you rather them take their business outside?"(Stockett8). This is
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