For Black History Month: Homer Plessey

     Homer Plessey, a light skinned mulatto who was only 1/8 black, was born on March 17, 1863 in New Orleans, Louisiana. In 1890, under the Jim Crow Law, Louisiana passed the "Separate Car Law," which was supposed to bring comfort by creating "equal but separate" cars for blacks and whites. No public accommodations, including railway travel, provided blacks with equal facilities. The Louisiana law made it illegal for blacks to sit in seats reserved for whites, and whites could not sit in seats reserved for blacks.

     A group of black people decided to test the Jim Crow Law and use Homer as an example. In June 1892, Homer bought a train ticket for Covington, Louisiana and planned to sit with the whites. In those days, black people, even Homer, were supposed to sit only with people of their race. Because Homer had a little black in him, he was supposed to sit with the black people. Homer refused to be prejudiced against. Because Homer refused to obey the rules, he was arrested and put into the jail in New Orleans.

     Homer decided to fight his case with the help of other people and bring it to the Supreme Court. Homer’s suit wanted the courts to stop Judge Ferguson from carrying out his sentence that was a $25 fine or 20 days in jail. Unbelievable to everyone, Homer lost the case by a ruling of 8 to 1. The court agreed with the idea of being separate but equal and that segregation was legal as long as both blacks and whites had the same type of facilities. In 1954, the United States finally outlawed legal segregation in the case of Brown versus Board of Education.

     I think it is important that segregation was outlawed because God made all people and loves all people the same. What a terrible experience for this man and all men like him which is why I decided to write about his courage.

The End.