Civil Rights and the Campaign in the Courts

Civil Rights and the Campaign in Courts
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April 5, 2023
a. Plessy v. Ferguson discussion
In 1896, the US Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson, which involved Homer Plessy, a black man who had refused to leave a white-only train car in Louisiana (Cates, 2012). Louisiana had passed a law mandating segregation on trains, and Plessy was charged with violating the state law. The Court upheld the constitutionality of state laws mandating racial segregation under the "separate but equal" doctrine, which allowed for the provision of separate facilities for different races to be considered equal. This decision led to systemic racism and discrimination against African Americans for over fifty years, including unequal treatment in public facilities and services, such as education and transportation (Span, 2015).
The Plessy ruling contradicted the Fourteenth Amendment, which guaranteed all citizens equal protection under the law. It ignored African Americans' ongoing social disadvantages and reinforced the belief in racial inferiority. The decision perpetuated racial violence and oppression against black Americans, an ongoing issue in US history (Anderson, 2020).
Despite the injustice of the Plessy ruling, it served as a critical reminder of the importance of the courts in ensuring justice and protecting citizens' rights. Activism and legal challenges eventually overturned the decision, but its impact on American history cannot be overlooked.
b. The Campaign in the Courts
"The Campaign in the Courts" was a legal strategy adopted by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in the 1930s to fight against segregation and discrimination against African Americans in the United States. The campaign had four significant steps to challenge the "separate but equal" doctrine.
The first step involved challenging segregation in education. In 1938, the NAACP filed a lawsuit, Missouri ex rel. Gaines v. Canada, to the Supreme Court to contest a Missouri state law that prevented a black student from enrolling in the University of Missouri's law school, which had no provision for black students (Rountree, 2004). The Supreme Court ruled that the state must either admit Gaines to the law school or establish a separate but equal law school for black students.
The second step was challenging the "separate but equal" concept in public graduate schools. In 1940, the NAACP filed another case, Sweatt v. Painter, with the Supreme Court opposing a Texas law prohibiting black students from attending the University of Texas Law School. The Supreme Court found that the law school created for black students was unequal in quality and resources compared to the University of Texas Law School and ordered that Sweatt be admitted.
The third step was to challenge the constitutionality of segregation in public schools. In 1947, the NAACP filed a lawsuit, Mendez v. Westminster, in a federal court in California, challenging a law that segregated Mexican American students in public schools. The Court ruled that the law was unconstitutional and that segregation violated the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment (Powers, 2008).
The ...