Plessy Vs Ferguson

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In the early 1900s civil rights movements started to arise in order to equalize the rights between white and colored people. These civil rights movements often consisted of freedom rides, lunch counter sit ins, Supreme Court cases and executive involvement led by people like Martin Luther King and Frederick Douglas. Some of these civil rights cases affected the U.S. image on the world stage, like the Plessy v. Ferguson case in 1896. The Supreme Court deemed separate but equal ok if everyone was treated equally. This case was a huge setback for civil rights groups and the decision of this case was against the United States mission during the Cold War. In the 1960s, the U.S. federal government started to support the civil rights movement and improve their image on the world stage through executive involvement through President Kennedy’s speech in 1963. The U.S did this because the Soviet Union found the United States hypocritical …show more content…
Ferguson case in 1896 was an example of the United States hypocrisy. In this case, the Supreme Court deemed that it was ok to separate colored people from white people as long as both groups were treated equally. The case Plessy v Ferguson was a huge setback for African Americans and further highlighted the U.S. hypocrisy of claiming to be a place of freedom and equality. This case hurt the U.S. on the world stage because stated by James McGranery in 1952 “The United States is trying to prove to the people of the world, of every nationality, race, and color, that a free democracy is the most civilized and most secure form of government.” This case was against the mission of the U.S. during the Cold War, which led Communist countries to create propaganda. An example of some propaganda created by Aleksandr Zhitomirsky shows a photo of an African American being hung by the Statue of Liberty. These propaganda images created by the Soviets further damaged the U.S image on the world stage and hurt U.S relations with other