Civil Rights Cases

Civil Rights Cases in the Supreme Court, 1883

Black people began to bring cases of discrimination to the Supreme Court in order to assert the rights that had been given to them by the Fourteenth Amendment and the Civil Rights Act.

African American cases

In 1883 black people took 5 cases to the Supreme Court to sue transportation companies, hotels and theatres for refusing to allow them into ‘white only’ facilities or refusing them entry altogether.
The black people took their cases to court as they believed that the treatment that they had suffered was unconstitutional and went against the 1875 Civil Rights Act.

Supreme Court ruling

The Supreme Court did not rule in favour of the claimants. In fact, they stated that black people were no longer to be ‘special favourites of the law’.
- The Supreme Court ruled that the federal government should not intervene over racial discrimination on the part of individuals or organisations.
- The Supreme Court said if federal governments did intervene in such matters it would be unconstitutional.

Impact of the Supreme Court Ruling of 1883

This ruling was a major blow to the Civil Rights of the African Americans; it legitimised the racist segregation laws.
The ruling of the Supreme Court caused many riots and protests across the United States.
The Supreme Court did not uphold the 15th Amendment and did not enforce the voting rights of black people.
In 1873 the Slaughter-House cases gave the States greater authority over civil rights limiting the power of the Supreme Court.

Plessy v. Ferguson and Williams v. Mississippi

Despite segregation and fear of the KKK, black people still tried to challenge the way in which they were treated. One way they did this was to try and prove in a court of law that the ‘Jim Crow’ laws were unlawful and unconstitutional.

Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896

The constitution made very clear that ‘all men are equal’ and this was used to try and prove that the segregation laws were illegal.
Homer Plessy tried to prove the illegality of segregation laws in 1896.
Plessy sat in a white-only area of a railway train and was subsequently arrested.
He took this to America’s Supreme Court and stated that his treatment was not lawful.

The outcome of Plessy v. Ferguson

Plessy lost his case against the segregation laws. The Supreme Court stated that the black facilities were of an equal standard so there was no reason he couldn’t sit in them.
This was a massive win for white supremacists who supported segregation laws.
In fact, it caused the Jim Crow Laws to spread further and legitimised segregation.

Separate but equal

The term ‘separate but equal’ was coined as a result of Plessy v. Ferguson.
This phrase suggested that it was acceptable to segregate people based on race because everyone was equal in the eyes of the law.
Yet, their separation did not suggest they were equal. Furthermore, the separate facilities for black people were not of equal standard to those of white people.
- Black schools, for example, consisted of little more than a glorified shed with poor facilities. White schools were large, purpose-built and made of stone, as represented in films such as Grease.

Williams v. Mississippi 1898

Williams was on trial for murder and he protested against the fact that there were no black people on his jury.
The law stated that only men eligible to vote were allowed to sit on juries. This meant that many black people were not able to sit on a jury because they could not vote.
- Williams argued that this was due to the unfair poll tax inflicted on the population.
- In 1890 Mississippi State ruled that the poll tax was not discriminatory.

Cumming v. Board of Education 1899

Cumming took his case to the Supreme Court in 1899 despite the obvious challenge and likely injustice.

Cumming's case

Cumming objected to the fact that the state of Georgia unevenly distributed money to schools.
Much of the money meant for education was used to develop white-only schools. Black schools were left heavily underfunded.
Cumming stated that this was a direct violation of the 14th Amendment as the facilities were not equal.

Educational inequality

The judges of the Supreme Court did not deem Cumming to have a case and approved the segregation of schools.
Southern whites (judges included) held the widespread belief that black people deserved a limited education system.
- This belief was even supported amongst the Northern States.
- Education for black people often centred around industrial skills rather than academic subjects.

The significance of the ruling

The fact that the Supreme Court continued to go against the 14th amendment showed the Southern States that they could also ignore it and continue the Jim Crow Laws.

1‘Free at Last’ 1865-77

1.1The Thirteenth Amendment

1.1.1The Civil War & The Thirteenth Amendment

1.1.2The Impact of the Civil War

1.1.3Economic, Political & Social Position of Ex-Slaves

1.1.4Political Settlement & Andrew Johnson

1.2Radical Reconstruction, 1867-77

1.2.1The Fourteenth Amendment

1.2.2The Fifteenth Amendment & The Civil Rights Act

1.3The Backlash

1.3.1White Supremacy Groups

1.3.2The End of Reconstruction 1887

2The Triumph of ‘Jim Crow’ 1883-c1890

2.1Jim Crow Laws & Civil Rights Cases

2.1.1Jim Crow Laws

2.1.2Voting Rights

2.1.3Scientific Racism

2.1.4Civil Rights Cases

2.2Resistance and Migration

2.2.1The Northern States & Black Resistance

2.2.2Early Migration

2.2.3The Great Migration

2.2.4Race Riots

2.2.5Migration Case Study: Harlem

3The New Deal and Race Relations, 1933–41

3.1Failure to Address Black Grievances

3.1.1The Democrat Party & the Anti-Lynching Bill

3.2The New Deal

3.2.1The New Deal

3.2.2The Alphabet Agencies

3.2.3The PWA, WPA & the NYA

3.2.4Benefits

3.2.5Impact of the New Deal & Eleanor Roosevelt

3.2.6Gone With the Wind

3.3The Second World War

3.3.1The Experience of War

3.3.2The Home Front

3.3.3The White Flight

3.3.4Restrictive Covenants

4‘I have a dream’, 1954–68

4.1Civil Rights Activities, 1954–63

4.1.1The Desegregation of Schools

4.1.2The Montgomery Bus Boycott

4.1.3SCLC & Birmingham

4.1.4SNCC

4.1.5CORE

4.2Civil Rights 1964-68

4.2.1Civil Rights Act 1964 & Voting Act 1965

4.2.2Ghettos & Poverty

4.2.31966 - 1968

4.3Malcolm X & The Black Panthers

4.3.1The Nation of Islam & Malcolm X

4.3.2Divisions in the Civil Rights Movement

4.3.3The Black Panthers

4.4Literature, Film & Television

4.4.1Racial Attitudes in Literature from 1850-2009

4.4.2Racial Attitudes in Film from 1850-2009

4.4.3Racial Attitudes in Television from 1850-2009

5Obama's Campaign for the Presidency, 2004–09

5.1The Late 20th Century

5.1.1Migration Back to the South in the 20th Century

5.1.2The Status of Black People 1968-2009

5.2Barack Obama & his Political Career

5.2.1Barack Obama's Life

5.2.2Senator for Illinois

5.2.3Running as Presidential Candidate

5.3Reasons for Obama's Victory

5.3.1Reasons for Vicotry

5.3.2The Significance of Obama's Victory

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