advertisement

Man whose arrest led to '~separate but equal' is pardoned

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Louisiana's governor on Wednesday posthumously pardoned Homer Plessy, the Black man whose arrest for refusing to leave a whites-only railroad car in 1892 led to the Supreme Court ruling that cemented 'œseparate but equal'ť into U.S. law for half a century.

The state Board of Pardons last year recommended the pardon for Plessy, who boarded the rail car as a member of a small civil rights group hoping to overturn a state law segregating trains. Instead, the protest led to the 1896 ruling known as Plessy v. Ferguson, which solidified whites-only spaces in public accommodations such as transportation, hotels and schools for decades.

At a ceremony held near the spot near where Plessy was arrested, Gov. John Bel Edwards said he was 'œbeyond grateful'ť to help restore Plessy's 'œlegacy of the rightness of his cause '¦ undefiled by the wrongness of his conviction.'ť

Keith Plessy, whose great-great-grandfather was Plessy's cousin, called the event 'œtruly a blessed day for our ancestors '¦ and for children not yet born.'ť

Since the pardon board vote in November, 'œI've had the feeling that my feet are not touching the ground because my ancestors are carrying me,'ť he said.

Justice Henry Billings Brown wrote in the 7-1 decision: 'œLegislation is powerless to eradicate racial instincts or to abolish distinctions based upon physical differences.'ť

Justice John Marshall Harlan was the only dissenting voice, writing that he believed the ruling 'œwill, in time, prove to be quite as pernicious as the decision made by this tribunal in the Dred Scott Case'ť - an 1857 decision that said no Black person who had been enslaved or was descended from a slave could ever become a U.S. citizen.

The ceremony began with cellist Kate Dillingham - a descendant of the dissenting justice - playing 'œLift Every Voice and Sing'ť while the audience sang along.

The Plessy v. Ferguson ruling allowing racial segregation across American life stood as the law of the land until the Supreme Court unanimously overruled it in 1954, in Brown v. the Board of Education. Both cases argued that segregation laws violated the 14th Amendment's right to equal protection.

The Brown decision led to widespread public school desegregation and the eventual stripping away of Jim Crow laws that discriminated against Black Americans.

Plessy was a member of the Citizens Committee, a New Orleans group trying to overcome laws that rolled back post-Civil War advances in equality.

The 30-year-old shoemaker lacked the business, political and educational accomplishments of most of the other members, Keith Weldon Medley wrote in the book 'ťWe As Freemen: Plessy v. Ferguson.'ť But his light skin - court papers described him as someone whose 'œone eighth African blood'ť was 'œnot discernable'ť - positioned him for the train car protest.

'œHis one attribute was being white enough to gain access to the train and black enough to be arrested for doing so,'ť Medley wrote.

Eight months after the ruling in his case, Plessy pleaded guilty and was fined $25 at a time when 25 cents would buy a pound of round steak and 10 pounds of potatoes.

Keith Plessy said donations collected by the committee paid the fine and other legal costs. But Plessy returned to obscurity, and never returned to shoemaking.

He worked alternately as a laborer, warehouse worker and clerk before becoming a collector for the Black-owned People's Life Insurance Company, Medley wrote. He died in 1925 with the conviction on his record.

Relatives of Plessy and John Howard Ferguson, the judge who oversaw his case in Orleans Parish Criminal District Court, became friends decades later and formed a nonprofit that advocates for civil rights education.

Also present at the pardon ceremony were descendants of the Citizens Committee and descendants of the local judge.

The purpose of the pardon 'œis not to erase what happened 125 years ago but to acknowledge the wrong that was done,'ť said Phoebe Ferguson, the judge's great-great-granddaughter.

Other recent efforts have acknowledged Plessy's role in history, including a 2018 vote by the New Orleans City Council to rename a section of the street where he tried to board the train in his honor.

The five blocks of Homer Plessy Way run through the campus of the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, a public school where the courtyard ceremony was held. Cars from the city's Public Belt Railroad served as a backdrop for the signing of the pardon, which took place blocks from where Plessy was arrested.

The governor's office described this as the first pardon under Louisiana's 2006 Avery Alexander Act, which allows pardons for people convicted under laws that were intended to discriminate.

Former state Sen. Edwin Murray said he originally wrote the act to automatically pardon anyone convicted of breaking a law written to encode discrimination. He said he made it optional after people arrested for civil rights protests told him they considered the arrests a badge of honor.

Descendants of Homer Plessy, Judge John H. Ferguson and Justice John Marshall Harlan pose with Gov. John Bel Edwards, fourth from right, after the Posthumous Pardoning Ceremony for Homer Plessy at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts in New Orleans, Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2022. Louisiana's governor on Wednesday posthumously pardoned Homer Plessy, the Black man whose arrest for refusing to leave a whites-only railroad car in 1892 led to the Supreme Court ruling that cemented 'œseparate but equal' into U.S. law for half a century. (Sophia Germer/The Advocate via AP) The Associated Press
FILE - Keith Plessy and Phoebe Ferguson, descendants of the principals in the Plessy V. Ferguson court case, pose for a photograph in front of a historical marker in New Orleans, on Tuesday, June 7, 2011. Homer Plessy, the namesake of the U.S. Supreme Court's 1896 "separate but equal" ruling, was granted a posthumous pardon, Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2022. The Creole man of color died with a conviction still on his record for refusing to leave a whites-only train car in New Orleans in 1892. (AP Photo/Bill Haber, File) The Associated Press
FILE - This June 3, 2018 photo shows a marker on the burial site for Homer Plessy at St. Louis No. 1 Cemetery in New Orleans. Homer Plessy, the namesake of the U.S. Supreme Court's 1896 "separate but equal" ruling, was granted a posthumous pardon, Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2022. The Creole man of color died with a conviction still on his record for refusing to leave a whites-only train car in New Orleans in 1892. (AP Photo/Beth J. Harpaz, File) The Associated Press
Phoebe Ferguson, a descendant of the judge who sentenced Homer Plessy for violating a law that segregated Louisiana trains in 1892, speaks at a ceremony Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2022, in New Orleans, where Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards signed a posthumous pardon for Plessy. Keith Plessy, right, a descendant of a cousin of Plessy's, listens. Behind them, a rail car sits on the tracks near where Plessy boarded a passenger train in an unsuccessful attempt to overturn the Jim Crow law. (AP Photo/Janet McConnaughey) The Associated Press
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards shows one of many copies of a posthumous pardon he signed,Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2022, in New Orleans, for Homer Plessy. Plessy was a Black man who could have passed for white but stated his race and refused to leave a "whites only" train car in 1892, in an unsuccessful attempt to overturn a Jim Crow law segregating trains in Louisiana. (AP Photo/Janet McConnaughey) The Associated Press
Keith Plessy, descended from a cousin of Homer Plessy, speaks at a ceremony on Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2022, in New Orleans, where Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards signed a posthumous pardon for Homer Plessy for violating a state law that segregated trains. Homer Plessy could have passed for white but said he was a "colored man" and refused to leave a "whites only" train car in 1892 in an unsuccessful attempt to overturn the law. (AP Photo/Janet McConnaughey) The Associated Press
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards poses in front of a train car after a ceremony Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2022, in New Orleans, signing a posthumous pardon for Homer Plessy, a Black man who could have passed for white but stated his race in a "whites only" train car in 1892 in an unsuccessful attempt to overturn a Jim Crow law segregating trains in Louisiana.With him are members of the families of Plessy, the judge who sentenced him and the U.S. Supreme Court justice who dissented from the 7-1 ruling in 1896. Plessy relative Keith Plessy, second from left, has his arm around Phoebe Ferguson, the judge's great-great granddaughter. Next to the governor and wearing a purple top is Kate Dillingham, a descendant of dissenting Justice John Marshall Harlan. (AP Photo/Janet McConnaughey) The Associated Press
Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.