Courts Matter...Then and Now 2
Supreme Court decisions are usually obscure and rarely publicized so it can be hard for people to understand how a single ruling impacts their lives. And yet, often they do. And frequently for decades into the future. So, it was with Plessy v. Ferguson.
Backstory: Homer Plessy was a resident of Louisiana. In 1890, his home state had passed a law designating that the races be separated on public transportation. Homer was riding in a rail car when he was told to go to the 'colored car' where he belonged. He refused.
At that time, it was believed that the percentage of 'mixed race' could be determined...and race was destiny in the South. Homer Plessy was ascertained to be 7/8 white but that was not sufficient to prevent his subjugation to the rules of segregation.
His defiance of Louisiana’s 'separate but equal' doctrine wound its way to the Supreme Court of the US (SCOTUS). 1896 may seem like long ago but it enshrined the standard for the segregation laws for generations to come. The court upheld the Louisiana standard and other states drafted similar laws which became the norm throughout the South. Segregation was institutionalized by the Plessy v. Ferguson case with all the prejudices and different treatment of the races incumbent on racism along with it.
In 1910 Baltimore would be the first municipality to model its laws of segregation on the doctrine of 'separation but equal' established by Plessy v. Ferguson. Public policy had thoroughly been established. Politically, socially, economically and culturally RACISM was enshrined in the laws of more than a dozen states.