1 00:00:01,080 --> 00:00:11,400 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuffy Missed in History Class from dot Com. Hello, 2 00:00:11,520 --> 00:00:14,320 Speaker 1: and welcome to the podcast. I'm Trac c V Wilson 3 00:00:14,400 --> 00:00:17,280 Speaker 1: and I'm Holly Frying. We are going to spend a 4 00:00:17,280 --> 00:00:20,599 Speaker 1: few episodes over the next few weeks talking about the 5 00:00:20,760 --> 00:00:25,239 Speaker 1: two Supreme Court cases that, uh sort of in a way, 6 00:00:25,440 --> 00:00:29,280 Speaker 1: book ended segregation in the United States and plus E 7 00:00:29,440 --> 00:00:33,360 Speaker 1: versus Ferguson. The Supreme Court ruled that segregation was legal 8 00:00:33,760 --> 00:00:37,360 Speaker 1: as long as the separate facilities were equal, and then 9 00:00:37,800 --> 00:00:41,640 Speaker 1: many years later, Round versus Board of Education overturned Plus 10 00:00:41,880 --> 00:00:46,319 Speaker 1: versus Ferguson and found that school segregation was unconstitutional. That 11 00:00:46,440 --> 00:00:49,040 Speaker 1: decision was such a big deal and was so monumental 12 00:00:49,080 --> 00:00:52,160 Speaker 1: and led to such a huge backlash. They were actually 13 00:00:52,200 --> 00:00:54,880 Speaker 1: going to split that part of the conversation into two 14 00:00:54,920 --> 00:01:00,400 Speaker 1: episodes later down the road. So those two facts about 15 00:01:00,520 --> 00:01:04,800 Speaker 1: Plessy versus. Ferguson and Brown versus Board are things that 16 00:01:04,840 --> 00:01:07,480 Speaker 1: most people who have studied the Civil rights movement or 17 00:01:07,760 --> 00:01:10,760 Speaker 1: United States history in any way are pretty familiar with. 18 00:01:11,160 --> 00:01:14,280 Speaker 1: But I think for me and for you, both both 19 00:01:14,280 --> 00:01:17,640 Speaker 1: of us, and probably a lot of other people, the 20 00:01:17,760 --> 00:01:21,680 Speaker 1: names of the cases and what they did is the 21 00:01:22,400 --> 00:01:24,759 Speaker 1: beginning and the end of the conversation, like, I had 22 00:01:24,800 --> 00:01:27,399 Speaker 1: no idea what the story was behind how these cases 23 00:01:27,440 --> 00:01:29,679 Speaker 1: came to be or any of that until I really 24 00:01:29,720 --> 00:01:33,080 Speaker 1: got into researching them for these episodes. So that's why 25 00:01:33,080 --> 00:01:34,520 Speaker 1: we're going to spend some time on this to talk 26 00:01:34,520 --> 00:01:38,360 Speaker 1: about who the people were involved in Plessy versus Ferguson 27 00:01:38,400 --> 00:01:40,520 Speaker 1: and Brown versus Board, and sort of the journey that 28 00:01:40,560 --> 00:01:42,600 Speaker 1: these cases took to come to the Supreme Court in 29 00:01:42,640 --> 00:01:45,600 Speaker 1: the first place. So the context that we're going to 30 00:01:45,720 --> 00:01:47,960 Speaker 1: start with today is actually the U. S. Civil War. 31 00:01:48,720 --> 00:01:50,880 Speaker 1: There are people who will argue that the Civil War 32 00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:53,560 Speaker 1: was not fought over slavery, that it was about states 33 00:01:53,680 --> 00:01:56,840 Speaker 1: rights or economics. And while states rights and economics were 34 00:01:56,920 --> 00:02:01,360 Speaker 1: certainly involved, the primary rights in questions in were the 35 00:02:01,440 --> 00:02:04,160 Speaker 1: right to own slaves and the right to travel freely 36 00:02:04,240 --> 00:02:08,560 Speaker 1: with slaves into states where slavery was illegal. The primary 37 00:02:08,600 --> 00:02:11,960 Speaker 1: economic factor at issue was that the Southern economy really 38 00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:16,600 Speaker 1: relied on slavery in labor intensive industries such as cotton farming. 39 00:02:17,520 --> 00:02:19,639 Speaker 1: You could also make the argument that the Civil War 40 00:02:19,800 --> 00:02:22,760 Speaker 1: was fought, oh the b over neither of those two things. 41 00:02:22,800 --> 00:02:25,560 Speaker 1: That it was spought because the North wanted to preserve 42 00:02:25,600 --> 00:02:27,840 Speaker 1: the Union of the States, but the South wanted to 43 00:02:27,960 --> 00:02:30,920 Speaker 1: succede from that union. And while strictly speaking this is 44 00:02:30,960 --> 00:02:35,360 Speaker 1: also true, the big factor that was driving states to succeed, 45 00:02:35,520 --> 00:02:38,919 Speaker 1: which was specifically cited in the declarations of causes that 46 00:02:39,000 --> 00:02:44,360 Speaker 1: were issued by Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Texas, was slavery. 47 00:02:44,600 --> 00:02:47,000 Speaker 1: This is all relevant because after the Union won the 48 00:02:47,000 --> 00:02:50,440 Speaker 1: war in eighteen sixty five, slavery was abolished in the 49 00:02:50,440 --> 00:02:53,519 Speaker 1: places where it was still legal. The federal government tried 50 00:02:53,560 --> 00:02:57,360 Speaker 1: to rebuild the Southern infrastructure and encourage racial equality in 51 00:02:57,400 --> 00:03:01,960 Speaker 1: a period that became known as the Reconstruction. Three amendments 52 00:03:01,960 --> 00:03:04,600 Speaker 1: were added to the United States Constitution as part of 53 00:03:04,600 --> 00:03:09,880 Speaker 1: this effort. The thirteenth Amendment formally abolished slavery. The fourteenth 54 00:03:09,880 --> 00:03:13,040 Speaker 1: Amendment granted citizenship to anyone who was born in the 55 00:03:13,160 --> 00:03:16,720 Speaker 1: United States or nationalized, which included former slaves, and the 56 00:03:16,720 --> 00:03:19,919 Speaker 1: fifteenth Amendment read, in part, the right of citizens of 57 00:03:19,960 --> 00:03:23,000 Speaker 1: the United States to vote shall not be denied or 58 00:03:23,040 --> 00:03:25,920 Speaker 1: abridged by the United States or by any State, on 59 00:03:25,960 --> 00:03:30,359 Speaker 1: account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. There 60 00:03:30,440 --> 00:03:33,560 Speaker 1: was a lot more going on during Reconstruction all of 61 00:03:33,600 --> 00:03:36,000 Speaker 1: the twists and turns could easily be their own whole 62 00:03:36,040 --> 00:03:39,720 Speaker 1: series of episodes. But to make an extremely long story short, 63 00:03:39,840 --> 00:03:44,040 Speaker 1: the South overall resented the largely Northern pressure to free 64 00:03:44,040 --> 00:03:46,680 Speaker 1: slaves and give them the right to vote. This was 65 00:03:46,800 --> 00:03:49,560 Speaker 1: especially true as black officials were elected to office in 66 00:03:49,560 --> 00:03:52,200 Speaker 1: the South, and for a brief period of time, some 67 00:03:52,360 --> 00:03:56,960 Speaker 1: progress was made towards rachel equality. As the Southern states 68 00:03:56,960 --> 00:03:59,840 Speaker 1: were readmitted to the Union and the federal government had 69 00:04:00,080 --> 00:04:03,400 Speaker 1: less influence on how those states were run, the states 70 00:04:03,400 --> 00:04:07,480 Speaker 1: started passing laws that restricted African Americans right to vote 71 00:04:07,480 --> 00:04:10,560 Speaker 1: by basically taking advantage of the fact that most of 72 00:04:10,600 --> 00:04:13,480 Speaker 1: them had been slaves, and during their time as slaves, 73 00:04:13,520 --> 00:04:16,000 Speaker 1: they had not been allowed to learn to read or write, 74 00:04:16,520 --> 00:04:19,640 Speaker 1: or to earn money or to hold property. So new 75 00:04:19,720 --> 00:04:22,279 Speaker 1: laws required that in order to vote, people had to 76 00:04:22,320 --> 00:04:24,960 Speaker 1: pass a literacy test, or pay up poll tax, or 77 00:04:25,000 --> 00:04:29,080 Speaker 1: own property, something that in general, white people in the 78 00:04:29,120 --> 00:04:31,640 Speaker 1: South could do much more easily than black people could. 79 00:04:32,440 --> 00:04:36,200 Speaker 1: Some of these tests were also virtually unpassable, but were 80 00:04:36,240 --> 00:04:40,880 Speaker 1: only required for black voters, but their right to vote restricted, 81 00:04:41,040 --> 00:04:44,080 Speaker 1: Black Americans lost many of their prior gains in terms 82 00:04:44,120 --> 00:04:48,799 Speaker 1: of representation in the government. Afterwards, states, both southern states 83 00:04:48,800 --> 00:04:52,680 Speaker 1: and border states enacted segregation laws that became known as 84 00:04:52,760 --> 00:04:56,159 Speaker 1: Jim Crow laws, which separated black and white citizens in 85 00:04:56,320 --> 00:05:00,320 Speaker 1: everything from hospitals to water fountains. Just the name Jim 86 00:05:00,360 --> 00:05:03,760 Speaker 1: Crow was an insult. It came from a heavily stereotypical 87 00:05:03,839 --> 00:05:08,280 Speaker 1: character in minstrel shows. These laws were enforced not just 88 00:05:08,400 --> 00:05:11,359 Speaker 1: through the usual means of making arrests and bringing people 89 00:05:11,400 --> 00:05:14,919 Speaker 1: to trial, but also through a social structure that insisted 90 00:05:15,040 --> 00:05:18,400 Speaker 1: that black people be subservient to white people. The laws 91 00:05:18,400 --> 00:05:22,600 Speaker 1: were also enforced more directly through intimidation and violence, up 92 00:05:22,640 --> 00:05:26,800 Speaker 1: to and including murder. White supremacy organizations like the Ku 93 00:05:26,880 --> 00:05:30,520 Speaker 1: Klux Klan really flourished, and violence against black citizens at 94 00:05:30,520 --> 00:05:35,360 Speaker 1: the hand of white citizens became both commonplace and rarely prosecuted. 95 00:05:36,080 --> 00:05:38,400 Speaker 1: Before we get into talking about a Jim Crow law 96 00:05:38,800 --> 00:05:40,720 Speaker 1: and how it led to a Supreme Court ruling that 97 00:05:40,839 --> 00:05:43,280 Speaker 1: legalized segregation, do you want to have a word from 98 00:05:43,320 --> 00:05:47,560 Speaker 1: a sponsor? Sure stupendous, So to return to the story 99 00:05:47,680 --> 00:05:51,479 Speaker 1: of Plessy versus Ferguson. One example of these Jim Crow 100 00:05:51,560 --> 00:05:55,120 Speaker 1: laws was Louisiana's separate car law, and this law was 101 00:05:55,200 --> 00:05:58,839 Speaker 1: to quote promote the comfort of passengers on their trains 102 00:05:59,440 --> 00:06:03,640 Speaker 1: by provide quote equal but separate accommodations for the white 103 00:06:03,640 --> 00:06:07,039 Speaker 1: and colored races. So anyone who boarded a car in 104 00:06:07,080 --> 00:06:09,560 Speaker 1: Louisiana that was not meant for their race could be 105 00:06:09,640 --> 00:06:14,279 Speaker 1: fined or jailed. Interracial couples were not exempt from the law, 106 00:06:14,560 --> 00:06:17,280 Speaker 1: nor were black maids and servants who were traveling with 107 00:06:17,320 --> 00:06:21,360 Speaker 1: white employers. Really, the only exception was nurses who were 108 00:06:21,400 --> 00:06:24,880 Speaker 1: taking care of children of another race. This was signed 109 00:06:24,920 --> 00:06:30,760 Speaker 1: into law on July tenth. Thanks to its sizable black population, 110 00:06:30,920 --> 00:06:35,000 Speaker 1: including slaves, free slaves, and creoles of color, and to 111 00:06:35,120 --> 00:06:37,599 Speaker 1: the Union's presence in New Orleans during much of the 112 00:06:37,640 --> 00:06:40,599 Speaker 1: Civil War, New Orleans have become home to a large 113 00:06:40,640 --> 00:06:45,120 Speaker 1: population of affluent, politically active black citizens. When the separate 114 00:06:45,160 --> 00:06:47,960 Speaker 1: car law was passed, activists in New Orleans set to 115 00:06:47,960 --> 00:06:51,000 Speaker 1: work immediately trying to put together a plan to challenge it. 116 00:06:51,520 --> 00:06:56,280 Speaker 1: On September one, eighteen, prominent black and Creole New Orleans 117 00:06:56,279 --> 00:07:00,800 Speaker 1: citizens formed the Citizens Committee to test the constitutionality of 118 00:07:00,800 --> 00:07:05,320 Speaker 1: the Separate Car Law, or the Committoya. They got legal 119 00:07:05,360 --> 00:07:08,200 Speaker 1: help from a white lawyer named Albion W. Tourge he 120 00:07:08,320 --> 00:07:11,440 Speaker 1: was from New York and had been an abolitionist. Toorgey 121 00:07:11,520 --> 00:07:13,920 Speaker 1: waved his fees and he promised to argue the case 122 00:07:14,000 --> 00:07:16,600 Speaker 1: before the Supreme Court. Shouldn't make it all the way there, 123 00:07:17,520 --> 00:07:20,440 Speaker 1: since torge was both very busy and also very far 124 00:07:20,480 --> 00:07:23,080 Speaker 1: away from Louisiana. They also had the help of a 125 00:07:23,080 --> 00:07:27,560 Speaker 1: local lawyer named James C. Walker. The committee settled on 126 00:07:27,560 --> 00:07:31,280 Speaker 1: a strategy of civil disobedience. They would find someone to 127 00:07:31,320 --> 00:07:33,680 Speaker 1: break the separate car law and get arrested, and then 128 00:07:33,680 --> 00:07:36,720 Speaker 1: they would take the case through the court system. This, 129 00:07:36,920 --> 00:07:39,760 Speaker 1: they hoped would lead to overturning segregation, not just on 130 00:07:39,840 --> 00:07:44,040 Speaker 1: Louisiana trains, but in all of the United States. Then 131 00:07:44,080 --> 00:07:47,160 Speaker 1: they started looking for volunteers who the law would consider 132 00:07:47,200 --> 00:07:51,240 Speaker 1: to be colored, but who looked white. Legal distinctions about 133 00:07:51,240 --> 00:07:53,720 Speaker 1: who was considered to be part of which race really 134 00:07:53,840 --> 00:07:56,640 Speaker 1: varied from state to state and through the years, and 135 00:07:56,720 --> 00:07:59,760 Speaker 1: as a general rule, particularly in the South, the law 136 00:07:59,840 --> 00:08:03,800 Speaker 1: of quired smaller and smaller amounts of African American ancestry 137 00:08:03,800 --> 00:08:07,280 Speaker 1: to be considered colored, and eventually this came down to 138 00:08:07,320 --> 00:08:10,600 Speaker 1: the one drop rule, meaning that in a lot of places, 139 00:08:10,640 --> 00:08:14,200 Speaker 1: if a person had one drop of African blood that 140 00:08:14,240 --> 00:08:18,360 Speaker 1: person was considered to be black. Candidates had to be 141 00:08:18,440 --> 00:08:22,160 Speaker 1: law abiding citizens with good reputations, people who would not 142 00:08:22,240 --> 00:08:25,080 Speaker 1: be dismissed as disreputable, and who had nothing in their 143 00:08:25,080 --> 00:08:28,320 Speaker 1: background that could be that could become an easy excuse 144 00:08:28,360 --> 00:08:32,280 Speaker 1: for not taking their case seriously. Their first attempts to 145 00:08:32,320 --> 00:08:34,319 Speaker 1: break the separate car law was made by a man 146 00:08:34,400 --> 00:08:37,080 Speaker 1: named Daniel did Dunes, and he was a musician. He 147 00:08:37,160 --> 00:08:38,800 Speaker 1: was also the son of one of the members of 148 00:08:38,800 --> 00:08:42,160 Speaker 1: the committee, and he was one eighth black. He boarded 149 00:08:42,200 --> 00:08:46,600 Speaker 1: the first class car of a train on February and 150 00:08:46,640 --> 00:08:49,240 Speaker 1: then he told the conductor that he was colored. He 151 00:08:49,400 --> 00:08:52,800 Speaker 1: was removed from the train and arrested, but before the 152 00:08:52,800 --> 00:08:55,000 Speaker 1: case could go to trial, the charges against him were 153 00:08:55,000 --> 00:08:58,040 Speaker 1: dismissed because the state Supreme Court ruled in a different 154 00:08:58,080 --> 00:09:02,400 Speaker 1: case that state segregation laws couldn't apply to interstate travel. 155 00:09:03,200 --> 00:09:06,720 Speaker 1: Dating's tickets had been to Mobile, Alabama, so per the 156 00:09:06,760 --> 00:09:10,520 Speaker 1: Louisiana Supreme Court, that ride was regulated by federal law 157 00:09:10,600 --> 00:09:13,960 Speaker 1: and not state law. The committee had actually chosen an 158 00:09:13,960 --> 00:09:16,760 Speaker 1: interstate ticket on purpose because they were hoping to draw 159 00:09:16,800 --> 00:09:20,720 Speaker 1: on interstate commerce commerce laws in the case. The committee 160 00:09:20,720 --> 00:09:23,640 Speaker 1: tried again, and this time. The man breaking the law 161 00:09:23,720 --> 00:09:27,640 Speaker 1: was Homer Plessy, a thirty year old shoemaker. He was 162 00:09:27,679 --> 00:09:31,160 Speaker 1: also one eighth African American, one of his great grandmothers 163 00:09:31,160 --> 00:09:33,600 Speaker 1: had been black, and he had skin light enough that 164 00:09:33,640 --> 00:09:36,760 Speaker 1: he would not be questioned boarding the car. He bought 165 00:09:36,760 --> 00:09:39,600 Speaker 1: his first class ticket to Covington, Louisiana on the East 166 00:09:39,600 --> 00:09:43,319 Speaker 1: Louisiana Railroad, so that the whole trip would take place 167 00:09:43,400 --> 00:09:47,199 Speaker 1: within the borders of the state. Nobody raised any questions 168 00:09:47,200 --> 00:09:50,400 Speaker 1: when Plus he boarded the first class car, and different 169 00:09:50,440 --> 00:09:53,560 Speaker 1: accounts vary and exactly how the conductor came to know 170 00:09:53,720 --> 00:09:55,680 Speaker 1: that he was legally a colored man and in the 171 00:09:55,720 --> 00:09:58,720 Speaker 1: wrong place, and some of the versions Plus he just 172 00:09:58,880 --> 00:10:02,880 Speaker 1: told him, and in others the conductor asked because he 173 00:10:02,960 --> 00:10:05,320 Speaker 1: knew that the committee was sending someone to test the 174 00:10:05,360 --> 00:10:09,800 Speaker 1: segregation law that day, and in others the conductor asked 175 00:10:09,880 --> 00:10:11,800 Speaker 1: everyone in the car because it was part of his 176 00:10:11,920 --> 00:10:14,400 Speaker 1: job to confirm the race of all passengers and that 177 00:10:14,600 --> 00:10:19,120 Speaker 1: everyone was in the correct car on the train. Regardless 178 00:10:19,240 --> 00:10:21,760 Speaker 1: of how it played out, and this information came to light, 179 00:10:22,320 --> 00:10:25,840 Speaker 1: the train's conductor, J. J. Dowling, asked Homer Plessy to 180 00:10:25,920 --> 00:10:29,120 Speaker 1: leave the train after learning his race, and even though 181 00:10:29,160 --> 00:10:32,480 Speaker 1: the law designated separate but equal cars, there was not 182 00:10:32,600 --> 00:10:36,040 Speaker 1: actually a car for black passengers on the train that day. 183 00:10:36,559 --> 00:10:39,560 Speaker 1: Plus he refused, he was arrested by a private detective 184 00:10:39,640 --> 00:10:44,000 Speaker 1: hired by the Committee and jailed. Members of the Citizens 185 00:10:44,000 --> 00:10:48,720 Speaker 1: Committee pulled their money to bail Plusy out. Plessy's trial 186 00:10:48,840 --> 00:10:53,560 Speaker 1: was set for October thirteenth, eighteen two. James Walker, who 187 00:10:53,640 --> 00:10:57,360 Speaker 1: we mentioned earlier, argued that his arrest violated the thirteenth 188 00:10:57,360 --> 00:11:01,280 Speaker 1: and fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution. Previous court rulings had 189 00:11:01,320 --> 00:11:04,480 Speaker 1: expanded on the interpretation of the thirteenth Amendment not just 190 00:11:04,559 --> 00:11:09,520 Speaker 1: to include literal slavery, but also quote badges of slavery 191 00:11:09,520 --> 00:11:11,800 Speaker 1: and service ude, which is how an amendment that was 192 00:11:11,880 --> 00:11:15,200 Speaker 1: set up to abolish slavery was being applied to the 193 00:11:15,240 --> 00:11:19,280 Speaker 1: matter of being segregated on a train. But Lionel Adams, 194 00:11:19,320 --> 00:11:22,320 Speaker 1: the attorney for the prosecution, argued that the Separate Car 195 00:11:22,360 --> 00:11:25,679 Speaker 1: Act reduced racial tension and so it was actually good 196 00:11:25,720 --> 00:11:28,760 Speaker 1: for the state. He also argued that because the separate 197 00:11:28,800 --> 00:11:32,000 Speaker 1: cars were equal, it was not discriminatory to separate people 198 00:11:32,040 --> 00:11:35,560 Speaker 1: into them by their race, although we're not clear on 199 00:11:35,640 --> 00:11:38,800 Speaker 1: how that applied given that there was reportedly no actual 200 00:11:38,880 --> 00:11:44,240 Speaker 1: car for black passengers on that particular train. Judge John H. 201 00:11:44,240 --> 00:11:48,240 Speaker 1: Ferguson ruled in favor of the prosecution on November the eighteen, 202 00:11:49,120 --> 00:11:51,320 Speaker 1: and the next step in the case was the appeal. 203 00:11:51,520 --> 00:11:53,520 Speaker 1: But again, we're gonna pause for a second for a 204 00:11:53,559 --> 00:11:55,560 Speaker 1: word from a sponsor before we dig into all of 205 00:11:55,600 --> 00:11:59,520 Speaker 1: that juicy material. So let's let's get back to the story, 206 00:11:59,559 --> 00:12:01,240 Speaker 1: which at the point is going to go to the 207 00:12:01,240 --> 00:12:04,640 Speaker 1: Supreme Court. Plus He's case went to the Louisiana Supreme 208 00:12:04,640 --> 00:12:07,120 Speaker 1: Court first, which heard it on November the twenty two 209 00:12:07,280 --> 00:12:10,840 Speaker 1: of that year. The arguments were essentially the same as 210 00:12:11,120 --> 00:12:13,400 Speaker 1: what had been argued in the court before, and in 211 00:12:13,480 --> 00:12:15,880 Speaker 1: what came as a surprise to no one, the court 212 00:12:16,000 --> 00:12:19,080 Speaker 1: ruled that the law was not discriminatory because it applied 213 00:12:19,160 --> 00:12:23,040 Speaker 1: equally to everyone. It would actually be four years before 214 00:12:23,040 --> 00:12:25,280 Speaker 1: the case would get to the U. S. Supreme Corps, 215 00:12:25,559 --> 00:12:27,920 Speaker 1: And as he had promised when originally agreeing to work 216 00:12:27,960 --> 00:12:31,480 Speaker 1: with the Citizens Committee, albion Tourge planned to argue the 217 00:12:31,480 --> 00:12:35,240 Speaker 1: case before the Supreme Court rather than appealing immediately. He 218 00:12:35,280 --> 00:12:37,560 Speaker 1: actually decided to take some time to try to raise 219 00:12:37,600 --> 00:12:41,240 Speaker 1: funds for the case and work out his strategy. In 220 00:12:41,280 --> 00:12:43,959 Speaker 1: addition to that, he and the Committee were also hoping 221 00:12:44,000 --> 00:12:46,559 Speaker 1: that by delaying a little bit, they would find themselves 222 00:12:46,600 --> 00:12:49,320 Speaker 1: before a court that would see their case more favorably. 223 00:12:50,120 --> 00:12:53,760 Speaker 1: Based on decisions that the court had already issued, justices 224 00:12:53,800 --> 00:12:57,840 Speaker 1: in two were really not very likely to find that 225 00:12:57,320 --> 00:13:00,640 Speaker 1: the separate car law was on the constitution all. The 226 00:13:00,760 --> 00:13:03,120 Speaker 1: President was just not running in favor of this case. 227 00:13:03,679 --> 00:13:06,000 Speaker 1: So the committee crossed their fingers that some of the 228 00:13:06,040 --> 00:13:09,360 Speaker 1: justices would be replaced before they submitted their own case, 229 00:13:10,480 --> 00:13:14,480 Speaker 1: and in eighteen two Supreme Court justices died and new 230 00:13:14,520 --> 00:13:18,480 Speaker 1: appointees took their place. However, this did not look much 231 00:13:18,520 --> 00:13:21,280 Speaker 1: better for Plessy in the Citizens Committee than the previous 232 00:13:21,320 --> 00:13:24,480 Speaker 1: court had. One of the new justices was a former 233 00:13:24,520 --> 00:13:27,480 Speaker 1: Confederate soldier and the other had a reputation for being 234 00:13:27,559 --> 00:13:31,800 Speaker 1: quite conservative. The new court also set an immediate precedent 235 00:13:31,880 --> 00:13:36,000 Speaker 1: of upholding other Jim Crow laws. Plus, in just those 236 00:13:36,000 --> 00:13:38,960 Speaker 1: couple of years, the overall racial climate in the United 237 00:13:38,960 --> 00:13:43,400 Speaker 1: States had gotten worse instead of better. So, in spite 238 00:13:43,440 --> 00:13:44,800 Speaker 1: of the fact that things seemed to be kind of 239 00:13:44,840 --> 00:13:47,480 Speaker 1: running against them towards a submitted the case which he 240 00:13:47,559 --> 00:13:51,640 Speaker 1: prepared along with Walker and Samuel F. Phillips, and he 241 00:13:51,679 --> 00:13:55,760 Speaker 1: submitted it four review towards the end of the Supreme 242 00:13:55,760 --> 00:13:57,840 Speaker 1: Court heard the case, which was now known as Plessy 243 00:13:57,920 --> 00:14:02,160 Speaker 1: versus Ferguson in eighteen ninety six. In the written briefs 244 00:14:02,160 --> 00:14:05,360 Speaker 1: and oral arguments, Tourge and team argued that the separate 245 00:14:05,360 --> 00:14:10,000 Speaker 1: car law was unconstitutional in several ways, including the following. 246 00:14:11,120 --> 00:14:14,120 Speaker 1: This is very much an abridged list, but first up, 247 00:14:14,240 --> 00:14:18,080 Speaker 1: it violated the Fourteenth Amendment from several different angles by 248 00:14:18,160 --> 00:14:21,760 Speaker 1: giving white citizens and the colored citizens different rights and 249 00:14:21,800 --> 00:14:25,360 Speaker 1: protections under the law. Second, while proponents of the law 250 00:14:25,400 --> 00:14:27,360 Speaker 1: claimed that it was for the comfort of both black 251 00:14:27,360 --> 00:14:30,560 Speaker 1: and white passengers towards they argued that it was really 252 00:14:30,640 --> 00:14:33,240 Speaker 1: for the comfort of white passengers at the expense of 253 00:14:33,280 --> 00:14:38,160 Speaker 1: black passengers, and therefore discriminatory. He also argued that the 254 00:14:38,200 --> 00:14:41,800 Speaker 1: law violated the Fourteenth Amendment to do process clause by 255 00:14:41,800 --> 00:14:45,640 Speaker 1: giving train conductors the power of law enforcement while giving 256 00:14:45,680 --> 00:14:50,400 Speaker 1: trained passengers no legal recourse about decisions the conductors made. 257 00:14:51,560 --> 00:14:55,960 Speaker 1: And last that it created conditions of subjection and inferiority, 258 00:14:56,080 --> 00:14:59,160 Speaker 1: which previous court decisions had interpreted to be in violation 259 00:14:59,280 --> 00:15:05,280 Speaker 1: of the Amendment. Representing Louisiana's side was Alexander Peter Morse, 260 00:15:05,320 --> 00:15:09,640 Speaker 1: whose legal specialty was federal appeals. He argued that the 261 00:15:09,680 --> 00:15:12,840 Speaker 1: separate car law was designed to prevent problems and serve 262 00:15:12,880 --> 00:15:16,680 Speaker 1: the common good, so, rather than making African American passengers 263 00:15:16,680 --> 00:15:20,640 Speaker 1: second class citizens, according to him, it actually protected them 264 00:15:20,680 --> 00:15:24,760 Speaker 1: from harassment and discrimination by white passengers. He also noted 265 00:15:24,800 --> 00:15:27,680 Speaker 1: several prior cases in which the Supreme Court had had 266 00:15:27,840 --> 00:15:31,600 Speaker 1: upheld States rights in the matter of segregation, and he 267 00:15:31,680 --> 00:15:33,880 Speaker 1: said that the rights that issue in the separate car 268 00:15:33,960 --> 00:15:37,240 Speaker 1: law were not civil rights at all. They were social 269 00:15:37,320 --> 00:15:42,280 Speaker 1: rights which are not constitutionally protected. The Supreme Court announced 270 00:15:42,320 --> 00:15:46,960 Speaker 1: its decision on May eighteenth. Of eight, Justice David J. 271 00:15:47,120 --> 00:15:51,240 Speaker 1: Brewer excused himself from participating because his daughter had just died, 272 00:15:51,760 --> 00:15:54,920 Speaker 1: and the remaining eight judges upheld the constitutionality of the 273 00:15:54,960 --> 00:15:59,120 Speaker 1: separate car law in a seven to one ruling. Henry 274 00:15:59,120 --> 00:16:03,200 Speaker 1: Billings Brown wrote the majority opinion, which dismissed the idea 275 00:16:03,240 --> 00:16:06,760 Speaker 1: that the separate car law violated the Thirteenth Amendment entirely. 276 00:16:07,680 --> 00:16:10,400 Speaker 1: He also cited several cases in which the Court had 277 00:16:10,480 --> 00:16:14,040 Speaker 1: upheld States rights to segregate, and he dismissed the idea 278 00:16:14,120 --> 00:16:18,560 Speaker 1: that providing separate facilities was inherently discriminatory. This is the 279 00:16:18,600 --> 00:16:22,359 Speaker 1: thing he wrote on that point. We consider the underlying 280 00:16:22,480 --> 00:16:25,880 Speaker 1: fallacy of the plaintiff's argument to consist in the assumption 281 00:16:25,920 --> 00:16:29,280 Speaker 1: that the enforced separation of the two races stamps the 282 00:16:29,320 --> 00:16:33,560 Speaker 1: colored race with a badge of inferiority. If this be so, 283 00:16:33,680 --> 00:16:36,160 Speaker 1: it is not by reason of anything found in the Act, 284 00:16:36,600 --> 00:16:39,520 Speaker 1: but solely because the colored race chooses to put that 285 00:16:39,600 --> 00:16:44,160 Speaker 1: construction upon it. So it goes on to say that 286 00:16:44,240 --> 00:16:47,120 Speaker 1: if quote, the colored race became the majority in the 287 00:16:47,160 --> 00:16:51,120 Speaker 1: state legislature and enacted the same law, that white people 288 00:16:51,120 --> 00:16:54,800 Speaker 1: would not think themselves inferior because of it. This was 289 00:16:54,880 --> 00:16:57,560 Speaker 1: the point where I had to stop reading Supreme Court 290 00:16:57,600 --> 00:17:01,000 Speaker 1: rulings and take a little break. That's probably for the 291 00:17:01,000 --> 00:17:05,040 Speaker 1: best in terms of your usual stability. There's a lot 292 00:17:05,119 --> 00:17:09,920 Speaker 1: that's really offensive in in the whole majority opinion, and 293 00:17:09,920 --> 00:17:12,040 Speaker 1: and the part where it's like this, you guys are 294 00:17:12,040 --> 00:17:13,920 Speaker 1: making a big deal out of it. This is on you, 295 00:17:13,960 --> 00:17:16,159 Speaker 1: not on us. That was the part that made me like, uh, 296 00:17:17,520 --> 00:17:20,360 Speaker 1: I feel like they haven't changed very much, because this 297 00:17:20,400 --> 00:17:23,399 Speaker 1: feels like the stop playing the race card of the 298 00:17:23,520 --> 00:17:27,399 Speaker 1: late ninetiesh injury. So the sole dissenter and all of 299 00:17:27,400 --> 00:17:31,000 Speaker 1: this was John Marshall Harlan, who went against the majority 300 00:17:31,040 --> 00:17:33,119 Speaker 1: with so much vigor that he became known as the 301 00:17:33,200 --> 00:17:37,560 Speaker 1: Great Dissenter. His dissent accurately predicted what was going to 302 00:17:37,640 --> 00:17:40,120 Speaker 1: happen next, which was the States were going to use 303 00:17:40,160 --> 00:17:43,000 Speaker 1: this ruling as a justification to enact a whole lot 304 00:17:43,040 --> 00:17:48,560 Speaker 1: more segregation laws, uh and to be more blatantly districted, discriminatory, 305 00:17:48,640 --> 00:17:50,680 Speaker 1: feeling like they had the backing of the Supreme Court 306 00:17:50,720 --> 00:17:54,880 Speaker 1: in doing so. One of his statements like this quote, 307 00:17:55,320 --> 00:17:58,199 Speaker 1: In my opinion, the judgment this day rendered will in 308 00:17:58,320 --> 00:18:01,440 Speaker 1: time proved to be quite as print as the decision 309 00:18:01,480 --> 00:18:04,760 Speaker 1: made by this tribunal in the dread Scott case. So 310 00:18:04,840 --> 00:18:07,399 Speaker 1: if you're not familiar with that one, that's dread Scott 311 00:18:07,480 --> 00:18:10,199 Speaker 1: versus Sanford, when dread Scott, who was a slave, sued 312 00:18:10,200 --> 00:18:13,119 Speaker 1: for his freedom, and the court decided that anyone with 313 00:18:13,200 --> 00:18:16,480 Speaker 1: African ancestry, whether they were a slave or free, was 314 00:18:16,560 --> 00:18:19,240 Speaker 1: not intended to be a citizen of the United States 315 00:18:19,680 --> 00:18:22,160 Speaker 1: and therefore was not entitled to bring such a suit 316 00:18:22,240 --> 00:18:25,600 Speaker 1: in federal court. The court also ruled that the federal 317 00:18:25,600 --> 00:18:29,080 Speaker 1: government couldn't prohibit slavery in territory that it had acquired 318 00:18:29,240 --> 00:18:33,639 Speaker 1: after the United States was founded. Harlan's descent also argued 319 00:18:33,880 --> 00:18:38,159 Speaker 1: strenuously against the idea that segregation was good for race relations. 320 00:18:38,720 --> 00:18:42,280 Speaker 1: To quote, sixty millions of whites are in no danger 321 00:18:42,359 --> 00:18:45,560 Speaker 1: from the presence here of eight millions of blacks. The 322 00:18:45,600 --> 00:18:48,680 Speaker 1: destinies of the two races in this country are indissolubly 323 00:18:48,760 --> 00:18:51,800 Speaker 1: linked together, and the interests of both require that the 324 00:18:51,840 --> 00:18:54,679 Speaker 1: common government of all shall not permit the seeds of 325 00:18:54,760 --> 00:18:57,240 Speaker 1: race hate to be planted under the sanction of law. 326 00:18:57,920 --> 00:19:02,480 Speaker 1: What can more certainly arouse race hate, What more certainly 327 00:19:02,600 --> 00:19:07,840 Speaker 1: create and perpetuate a feeling of distrust between these races 328 00:19:08,040 --> 00:19:11,919 Speaker 1: than state enactments, which in fact proceed on the ground 329 00:19:11,960 --> 00:19:15,520 Speaker 1: that colored citizens are so far inferior and degraded that 330 00:19:15,560 --> 00:19:18,919 Speaker 1: they cannot be allowed to sit in public coaches occupied 331 00:19:18,920 --> 00:19:22,480 Speaker 1: by white citizens. That, as all will admit, is the 332 00:19:22,520 --> 00:19:27,520 Speaker 1: real meaning of such legislation as was enacted in Louisiana. Yeah, 333 00:19:27,520 --> 00:19:30,840 Speaker 1: his whole tone is basically, Uh, It's completely obvious to 334 00:19:30,880 --> 00:19:33,520 Speaker 1: everyone that the intent here is to subjugate an entire 335 00:19:33,600 --> 00:19:36,600 Speaker 1: race of people and upholding this law is going to 336 00:19:36,640 --> 00:19:41,200 Speaker 1: make it so much worse today. Plessy versus Ferguson is 337 00:19:41,200 --> 00:19:44,159 Speaker 1: a pretty infamous and notorious Supreme Court case, but at 338 00:19:44,160 --> 00:19:45,959 Speaker 1: the time it really did not make a lot of 339 00:19:46,000 --> 00:19:49,479 Speaker 1: big news. The reaction of a lot of the media 340 00:19:49,720 --> 00:19:52,400 Speaker 1: and of the majority as a whole was sort of 341 00:19:52,480 --> 00:19:57,360 Speaker 1: well obviously um Afterwards, though, states really did begin passing 342 00:19:57,400 --> 00:20:00,520 Speaker 1: more and more segregation laws, and in spite of the 343 00:20:00,600 --> 00:20:03,320 Speaker 1: ruling being based on the idea that things were separate 344 00:20:03,359 --> 00:20:06,159 Speaker 1: but equal, a lot of these separate facilities were not 345 00:20:06,280 --> 00:20:10,240 Speaker 1: equal at all. They were often massively and deliberately inferior 346 00:20:10,600 --> 00:20:13,640 Speaker 1: that from the facilities for white people, and a lot 347 00:20:13,720 --> 00:20:16,840 Speaker 1: of people interpreted this ruling to mean that all discrimination 348 00:20:16,920 --> 00:20:20,159 Speaker 1: and everything was legal, not just the separation of races 349 00:20:20,160 --> 00:20:24,440 Speaker 1: into two separate but supposedly equal facilities. And while most 350 00:20:24,440 --> 00:20:26,560 Speaker 1: of these laws were passed in the South, this was 351 00:20:26,640 --> 00:20:31,320 Speaker 1: not exclusively a Southern phenomenon. Of the segregation laws in 352 00:20:31,359 --> 00:20:34,199 Speaker 1: the United States were in the North, Midwest, and the West, 353 00:20:34,680 --> 00:20:37,800 Speaker 1: and it also was not just about segregating African Americans 354 00:20:38,119 --> 00:20:42,639 Speaker 1: in states with sizable populations of Asians, Mexicans, and Native Americans, 355 00:20:42,680 --> 00:20:46,760 Speaker 1: for example, these populations were segregated from the white population 356 00:20:46,840 --> 00:20:51,600 Speaker 1: as well since the Supreme Court had upheld the previous verdict. 357 00:20:51,880 --> 00:20:55,280 Speaker 1: Homer Plessy then appeared before Judge Ferguson in Louisiana one 358 00:20:55,280 --> 00:21:00,200 Speaker 1: more time until on January eleven. This was to lead 359 00:21:00,200 --> 00:21:02,560 Speaker 1: guilty and to pay his fine for violating the separate 360 00:21:02,600 --> 00:21:05,320 Speaker 1: car law. He spent the rest of his life working 361 00:21:05,320 --> 00:21:07,880 Speaker 1: as a laborer and then a clerk, and then eventually 362 00:21:07,960 --> 00:21:10,600 Speaker 1: he became an insurance salesman for an African American owned 363 00:21:10,640 --> 00:21:16,399 Speaker 1: insurance company, Homer Plus. He died on March one. It 364 00:21:16,440 --> 00:21:20,040 Speaker 1: would be almost sixty years before this decision was overturned, 365 00:21:20,880 --> 00:21:24,400 Speaker 1: and we're going to talk about that, uh in another episode, 366 00:21:24,840 --> 00:21:26,960 Speaker 1: and then in another episode after that, we're going to 367 00:21:26,960 --> 00:21:30,360 Speaker 1: talk about what happened after it was overturned. And I'm 368 00:21:30,359 --> 00:21:34,160 Speaker 1: going to change courses completely to talk about some listener mail. 369 00:21:36,480 --> 00:21:39,320 Speaker 1: So this listener mail is from Neely, and Neely says, Hello, 370 00:21:39,359 --> 00:21:41,720 Speaker 1: Holly and Tracy. I love the podcast and have wanted 371 00:21:41,720 --> 00:21:44,359 Speaker 1: an excuse to be able to write and include picks 372 00:21:44,400 --> 00:21:47,399 Speaker 1: of my fur babies. I lived an Anchorage for two 373 00:21:47,440 --> 00:21:49,960 Speaker 1: point five years and my husband was born and raised 374 00:21:50,000 --> 00:21:53,919 Speaker 1: in Homer, Alaska. His grandma homesteaded there and Fairbanks and 375 00:21:53,960 --> 00:21:56,480 Speaker 1: likes to tell everyone she voted against becoming a state. 376 00:21:57,440 --> 00:21:59,240 Speaker 1: I wanted to give you a quick correction on the 377 00:21:59,240 --> 00:22:01,919 Speaker 1: start of the Ida Rod. The ceremonial start as an 378 00:22:01,920 --> 00:22:04,920 Speaker 1: anchorage during for Rondie, but this is just the mushers 379 00:22:04,960 --> 00:22:08,399 Speaker 1: coming through town to being announced. The actual race start 380 00:22:08,480 --> 00:22:11,560 Speaker 1: is in Willow, Alaska. This is a common fact misquoted 381 00:22:11,560 --> 00:22:14,280 Speaker 1: when the race is discussed. I also wanted to give 382 00:22:14,320 --> 00:22:16,560 Speaker 1: you a few other fun facts. When you mentioned that 383 00:22:16,600 --> 00:22:18,800 Speaker 1: you felt sorry for the musher who only had a 384 00:22:18,840 --> 00:22:21,159 Speaker 1: fifty degree hut to warm in, I assure you it 385 00:22:21,200 --> 00:22:23,640 Speaker 1: probably felt like a sauna. I remember a two week 386 00:22:23,680 --> 00:22:26,280 Speaker 1: spell and anchorage when it didn't get above negative ten. 387 00:22:26,880 --> 00:22:28,760 Speaker 1: One morning, I was walking to my car in my 388 00:22:28,800 --> 00:22:31,560 Speaker 1: warmest gear and had to change into a light place 389 00:22:31,600 --> 00:22:34,440 Speaker 1: because it was just much too warm. I got to 390 00:22:34,560 --> 00:22:37,720 Speaker 1: my car to see that much too warm was four degrees. 391 00:22:37,840 --> 00:22:41,560 Speaker 1: It was really all relative. Also google for Rondie. That 392 00:22:41,720 --> 00:22:44,879 Speaker 1: is a hilariously Alaska event that includes not only the 393 00:22:44,920 --> 00:22:48,920 Speaker 1: ceremonial race start, but fur ball, snowshoe football, and the 394 00:22:49,000 --> 00:22:51,720 Speaker 1: running of the reindeer. Think running of the bulls. Only 395 00:22:51,760 --> 00:22:54,360 Speaker 1: reindeer are pretty chilled, so they kind of just wander 396 00:22:54,480 --> 00:22:58,680 Speaker 1: behind wondering what those crazy humans are doing. Another random 397 00:22:58,760 --> 00:23:01,639 Speaker 1: non fact from my Alaska native from from Nome. You 398 00:23:01,640 --> 00:23:04,040 Speaker 1: may want to fact checked. The town is named Nome 399 00:23:04,160 --> 00:23:06,360 Speaker 1: because on a census report that asked for the name, 400 00:23:06,400 --> 00:23:08,840 Speaker 1: it was written none because it was too small for 401 00:23:08,880 --> 00:23:12,280 Speaker 1: a name. It was misreads Nome, and thus Gnome is 402 00:23:12,320 --> 00:23:16,919 Speaker 1: Gnome uh And then Neely sent some episode suggestions. I 403 00:23:16,960 --> 00:23:20,200 Speaker 1: did find that Gnome fact in a couple of places, 404 00:23:20,200 --> 00:23:22,040 Speaker 1: but the reason it didn't make it into the episode 405 00:23:22,080 --> 00:23:26,120 Speaker 1: is that I similarly had a hard time substantiating whether 406 00:23:26,200 --> 00:23:28,879 Speaker 1: that was actually true. But the reason that I wanted 407 00:23:28,920 --> 00:23:32,159 Speaker 1: to read this email is that, not very long after 408 00:23:32,359 --> 00:23:37,000 Speaker 1: the Gnome Serium Run podcast aired, I had the experience 409 00:23:37,000 --> 00:23:40,480 Speaker 1: of having to take a fifteen minute walk in a 410 00:23:40,560 --> 00:23:44,760 Speaker 1: twenty degree below zero windshill and I went from that 411 00:23:44,880 --> 00:23:48,560 Speaker 1: twenty or fifteen however many minutes, some minutes not that long, 412 00:23:48,640 --> 00:23:53,240 Speaker 1: actually into an apartment that was seventy two degrees and 413 00:23:53,359 --> 00:23:57,160 Speaker 1: I was immediately sweltering, And my absolute first thought was, yet, yeah, 414 00:23:57,320 --> 00:24:00,960 Speaker 1: fifty degrees, that was fine. That guy on this serre 415 00:24:01,080 --> 00:24:04,439 Speaker 1: run So if you would like to write to us 416 00:24:04,480 --> 00:24:07,520 Speaker 1: about this or any other episode, where at History podcast 417 00:24:07,560 --> 00:24:10,520 Speaker 1: at how stuff works dot com. Our Facebook is Facebook 418 00:24:10,560 --> 00:24:12,960 Speaker 1: dot com plus missed in History, and our Twitter is 419 00:24:13,000 --> 00:24:15,679 Speaker 1: miss in History. Are Tumbler is miss and History dot 420 00:24:15,720 --> 00:24:18,000 Speaker 1: tumbler dot com, and are also on interest at pinterest 421 00:24:18,040 --> 00:24:21,280 Speaker 1: dot com slash missed in History. We also have a 422 00:24:21,400 --> 00:24:24,400 Speaker 1: spreadshirt store at ms in history dot spreadshirt dot com 423 00:24:24,440 --> 00:24:27,920 Speaker 1: where you can find shirts and other cool stuff. If 424 00:24:28,000 --> 00:24:30,480 Speaker 1: you would like to learn more about what we've talked 425 00:24:30,520 --> 00:24:34,159 Speaker 1: about today, come to our parent company's website, which is 426 00:24:34,160 --> 00:24:36,560 Speaker 1: how stuff Works dot com and put the word let's 427 00:24:36,560 --> 00:24:38,439 Speaker 1: see in the search bar, and you will find an 428 00:24:38,520 --> 00:24:42,240 Speaker 1: article called ten Overturned Supreme Court Cases which talks about 429 00:24:42,480 --> 00:24:45,280 Speaker 1: this one in addition to nine others. You can also 430 00:24:45,320 --> 00:24:47,640 Speaker 1: come to our website, which is missed in History dot 431 00:24:47,720 --> 00:24:50,320 Speaker 1: com to see an archive of every episode we have 432 00:24:50,480 --> 00:24:53,960 Speaker 1: ever done, show notes for every episode Holly and I 433 00:24:54,040 --> 00:24:57,800 Speaker 1: have ever done, along with some other nice goodies, so 434 00:24:57,840 --> 00:24:58,520 Speaker 1: you can do all that