Separate but Equal

Historical Background

During the Reconstruction era that followed the Civil War, African Americans experienced a decade of remarkable progress in the South. Sixteen Blacks served in Congress. Eighteen African Americans served as lieutenant governor, treasurer, superintendent of schools, or secretary of state. African Americans also held many other elective offices at the state and local levels.

In 1877, however, the Hayes-Tilden Compromise, which resolved a contested presidential election, resulted in the withdrawal of federal troops from the South. The Reconstruction era began to fade. Within a few years, Whites seized control of state legislatures, often using violence and intimidation to achieve their goals. Black elected officials were forced from their offices and driven from their homes. A reign of violence and terror ensued. In this context, racial segregation was established.

In an 1895 speech, Booker T. Washington, the founder of Tuskegee Institute, urged southern business leaders to rely on the labor of local Blacks rather than importing immigrant workers from Europe. Illustrating his point with an outstretched hand, Washington stated, “In all things purely social we can be as separate as the fingers, yet as one hand in all things essential to mutual progress.”

Interpreting Washington's metaphor as the solution for race relations in the South, the crowd exploded with enthusiastic applause; the governor of Georgia rushed over and enthusiastically shook Washington's hand. Newspapers across the nation reported the remarks. The speech made Washington the leader and spokesman for all African Americans.

As Washington delivered his historic address, a test case organized by a group of African Americans in New Orleans was on its way to the Supreme Court. The case involved a local ordinance that required segregation on railroads. The plaintiff, Homer Plessy, argued that the ordinance violated the Fourteenth and Thirteenth amendments because it treated him less favorably than White passengers were treated.

In 1896, the Supreme Court decided in Plessy v. Ferguson, “The enforced separation of the races … neither abridges the privileges or immunities of the colored man, deprives him of this property without due process of law nor denies him equal protection of the law within the meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment.” Reflecting the prevailing racial attitudes, the Court stated, “If one race be inferior to the other socially, the Constitution of the United States cannot put them on the same plane.” Plessy endorsed segregation and established the “separate-but-equal” doctrine. The Court held that laws requiring segregation did not violate the Fourteenth Amendment as long as the separate facilities provided for Blacks were equal to those available to Whites.

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