Is America free for me & you? . Or just you?

What is racial
segregation?
Racial segregation was
a system derived from
the efforts of white
Americans to keep
African Americans in
a subordinate status
by denying them
equal access to public
facilities and ensuring
that blacks and whites
lived apart.
Racial segregation has no exact date in
which it started. Since America was
founded, there has always been
segregation. Segregation has always had a
prevalence in America from the time of
slavery to the days of separate restaurants
and bathrooms. Back in the 30s, 40s, 50s,
and some 60s, racial segregation was at its
worse. People did not understand the
different races and didnt understand why
everyone wasnt the same race. For that,
people were afraid. For this reason,
schools, facilities, parks, churches, and
more were separated.
FIGHTING
SEGREGATION
PLESSY vs. FERGUSON
Plessy attempted to sit in an all-white railroad car. After
refusing to sit in the black railway carriage car, Plessy was
arrested for violating an 1890 Louisiana statute that provided
for segregated separate but equal railroad accommodations.
Those using facilities not designated for their race were
criminally liable under the statute.

Supported by the Supreme Courts 1896 ruling in Plessy vs.
Ferguson, the segregation of African Americans and whites
was the law of the land in much of the United States in the
early 1900s.

At trial with Justice John H. Ferguson presiding, Plessy was
found guilty on the grounds that the law was a reasonable
exercise of the states police powers based upon custom,
usage, and tradition in the state. Plessy filed a petition for
writs of prohibition and certiorari in the Supreme Court of
Louisiana against Ferguson, asserting that segregation
stigmatized blacks and stamped them with a badge of
inferiority in violation of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth
amendments. The court found for Ferguson and the Supreme
Court granted cert.



COOPER vs. ARON
The Arkansas governor and state legislature were
displeased with the Supreme Courts decision in
Brown vs. Board of education and refused to comply
with court orders to implement desegregation of the
states schools. The governor and legislature
insisted that state government officials had no duty
to comply with court orders based on the Supreme
Courts interpretation of the constitution.
The school board of Little Rock, Arkansas had
sought to implement a program of desegregation.
Due to resistance by the state government and
public hostility, however, the presence of federal
troops was necessary to enable nine black children
to attend the school.
The district court granted the petition, stating that
the attendance of the black students had caused
disruption and acts of violence directed toward the
students under conditions of chaos, bedlam, and
turmoil. The Eighth Circuit reversed and ordered the
program of desegregation to continue. This appeal
resulted.





THE BEGINNING OF THE END!
People of black color, groups of mixed African American, and European ancestry joined together to fight
segregation of trains in New Orleans. In 1905 a number of Black activists, led by W.E.B. Dubois, the first African
American to receive a doctorial degree from Harvard University, met in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada to plan
strategies to fight racial equality. By 1909 they were called the Niagara Movement, which led to the NAACP. The
National Association of the Advancement of Colored People began to challenge segregation in court. Before World
War 2, there were some significant victories. Guinn v. the United States (1915), Buchanan v. Warley (1917), and
Gaines v. Canada (1937) were only a few. During the World War 2 and after challenges to segregation became more
and more successful.


Segregation was made difficult because of violence and the power of state
governments. Blacks tried to fight segregation in many ways like at the ballot boxes, in the
courtrooms, and through organizations like the National Association of the Advancement of
Colored People. Which was founded in 1909. After the Civil Rights Act of 1883, blacks held
meetings. Frederick Douglas gave speeches at large protest; he made groups like Brotherhood
of Liberty to plan legal and political action against segregation.


The three major factors that contributed to the Civil Rights Movement was the Great Migration, the
changing nature of African American politics, and the social and cultural changes connected to war itself.