Question

What law did Homer Plessy Break? Why?

Answer 1

Homer Plessy was an African American man who challenged the "Separate Car Act," a Louisiana state law that required separate railway cars for white and black passengers in 1892. Plessy deliberately violated the law by sitting in a "whites-only" railroad car in protest of the law's segregation policy.

As a result of his actions, Plessy was arrested and charged with violating the Separate Car Act. The case eventually made its way to the United States Supreme Court, where the court upheld the constitutionality of the Separate Car Act in the landmark case Plessy v. Ferguson. This ruling established the "separate but equal" doctrine, which allowed segregation to continue in public accommodations throughout the country until it was eventually struck down by the Supreme Court in the 1954 case Brown v. Board of Education.

Answer 2

Step-by-step explanation:

Homer Plessy broke the Louisiana Separate Car Act of 1890, which mandated racial segregation in public transportation. The law required separate railway cars for white and Black passengers, and it was designed to enforce racial segregation and discrimination.

Homer Plessy, who was a mixed-race African American, bought a ticket for a first-class train compartment designated for white passengers and refused to move to the "colored" car. His intention was to challenge the law's constitutionality and bring attention to the issue of racial segregation. Plessy was arrested and charged with violating the Separate Car Act, and his case ultimately led to the landmark Supreme Court decision in Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896.

The Supreme Court upheld the Separate Car Act and established the "separate but equal" doctrine, which allowed states to impose racial segregation as long as the separate facilities were deemed equal in quality. The decision allowed for the continued enforcement of segregation and discrimination against African Americans in public accommodations, education, and other areas of life for several decades until the Civil Rights Movement successfully challenged and overturned these laws in the mid-20th century.