Civil Rights Cases (1883)

1
Civil Rights Cases (1883)

• Background
• Civil Rights Act in 1875 declared it a crime to
  deny equal access to public accommodations on
  account of race or color. Most privately owned
  businesses continued to deny service to African
  American customers.
• Constitutional Issue
• Could the U.S. government establish laws banning
  discrimination in privately owned businesses?

2
Civil Rights Cases

• Decision
• The Civil Rights Act of 1875 was unconstitutional
  because the 14th amendments equal protection
  clause applied to the discriminatory acts taken
  by states, not by individuals in the private
  sector.
• Importance
• Many privately owned businesses could now refuse
  service to African Americans

3
Plessy v. Ferguson(1896)

• Background
• Homer Plessy, a man of mixed race, was seated in
  the train car reserved for white only
  passengers. He refused to move to the car for the
  non-white passengers and Plessy was arrested for
  violating the Louisiana Act of 1890, which
  required railroad companies to provide separate
  but equal accommodations for white and black
  races.
• Constitutional Issue
• Do laws that provide for the separation of races
  violate the rights of blacks as guaranteed by the
  equal protection clause of the 14th amendment?

4
Plessy v. Ferguson

• Decision
• Court stated that Louisiana Act of 1890 (separate
  but equal accommodations for white and black
  races) did not violate the Constitution. Court
  believed that separate but equal was the most
  reasonable approach considering the social
  prejudices at the time.
• Importance
• Led the way for states to create separate but
  equal facilities, allowing for legal segregation
  based on race. Jim Crow ruled the South.
• (This decision was eventually overturned by Brown
  v. Board of Education of Topeka in 1954 when the
  Court ruled separate but equal was
  unconstitutional.)