Plessy V. Ferguson Supreme Court Case

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Jim Crow laws were supposed to be “separated-but-equal”, but after Plessy v. Ferguson decision the laws were not equal at all for the black people. The laws took away the rights and freedom of blacks, and the Supreme Court decision legalized segregation. That created more Jim Crow laws. Jim Crow laws affect the daily lives of blacks by separating them from public spaces, transportation, and it took away most of their voting rights. First, the Separate Car act made blacks sit in a different car than the white people (Cates 12). Also, the Jim Crow laws separated the two races from water fountains, bathrooms, phone booths, and other public spaces (16). Additionally, the Grandfather Clause was passed, meaning many states required literacy and land ownership to vote, but white illiterate …show more content…
Ferguson Supreme Court decision helped further segregation. Before this Supreme Court case, a man who appeared to be white named Plessy boarded a train. Plessy had one black grandfather, so Plessy was considered an octoroon (meaning he was considered black) (11). The train conductors had the uncomfortable job of determining somebody’s race when they board the train, so the conductor would have thought he was white and Plessy told the man that he was black because he was an octoroon. The train conductor told him to go to the Jim Crow car, but Plessy refused, so the conductor called the police who quickly took him away from the train. Plessy brought this case to the Supreme Court to challenge the Jim Crow laws all over the country (12). After this case, segregation was legalized and the freedom of blacks was taken away because they said that the Separate Car Act and the Jim Crow Laws were constitutional (105-108). This Supreme Court case made many other states make more unfair laws, widening the gap between blacks and whites. Plessy tried to change the original laws but there were just more and harsher laws. The Supreme Court decision gave black people less rights
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