public services and transportation
In Post- Reconstruction segregation, transportation and public services were hugely affected. The usual places inhabited and things used in society were divided. African Americans were denied any equality with whites in terms of community life. White Americans, or Black Americans, there is no difference in either, other than physical attributes and possibly some culture, and yet one was superior to the other.
People of these different races were forced to attend different schools and universities completely separate from whites. [2] Education was a basic need for individuals to prepare them for a successful life and blacks didn’t have the choice of what school they wanted to go to. Not only were schools separate, but sidewalks, drinking fountains, buses, and trains were also divided among the different races. [3]
In public areas, blacks and whites were also distinguished their own places. An African American person could not enter a white owned or occupied park and the same went for a white American in a black owned or occupied park. Also divided in southern society were sidewalks. African Americans had a separate side to whites on paved walkways. Also water fountains, a object that harnessed a necessity to live a healthy life, was divided among those in society because certain races were considered dirty, or whites didn’t want to share any type of hygienic contact with those not of their color.
On a train, blacks were only allowed to occupy certain sections and even had some of their own train cars. If they were found on a white car, they could be arrested or fined as though they were “trespassing”. On buses, whites were seated in the front and blacks were seated in the back. Even if a black individual was seated in the front first, a white person had superiority and was able to claim the seat although it was definitely already taken. One man’s view that the separation of the train cars was unnecessary lead to the historic case, Plessy v. Ferguson.
In 1896, the Plessy v. Ferguson case was decided. It arose when, Plessy, a man one-eighth African decent, sat on the wrong side of the bus as a test to get arrested and challenge the court. [4] The court ruled that the constitution is colorblind and it can only change the political aspects of racial equality. The judge reasoned that the attitudes of the other races, as in White Americans, cannot be changed or be forced to change which could have even more enabled the separation among blacks and white. This case paved way for “separate but equal”. Nearly everything in society was separate, but almost nothing was equal. I believe the interactions of the different races in Post- Reconstruction segregation were absolutely ridiculous. Why should a person be denied or looked down upon for the skin color one cannot simply choose? We are born with our skin color, eye color, and nose shape already chosen for us. No race that walked the streets of the south of time should have been segregated and divided.
[1] 1882, and the Democrats in South Carolina were firmly in power. Republicans were contained in the heavily black counties of Beaufort. "Disfranchisement after the Reconstruction Era - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Oct. 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disfranchisement_after_the_Reconstruction_Era>.
[4] Ferguson, John Howard, and the Louisiana Supreme Court. "Plessy vs. Ferguson." Ferris State University: Michigan College Campuses in Big Rapids MI, Grand Rapids MI, Off Campus Locations Across Michigan . N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Oct. 2013. <http://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/links/misclink/plessy/>.
[2] integration: Reconstruction to 1954 | Infoplease.com." Infoplease: Encyclopedia, Almanac, Atlas, Biographies, Dictionary, Thesaurus. Free online reference, research & homework help. | Infoplease.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Oct. 2013. <http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/history/integration-reconstruction-to-1954.html>.
[3] Segregation, Freedom's Story, TeacherServe®, National Humanities Center." National Humanities Center - Welcome to the National Humanities Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Oct. 2013. <http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/tserve/freedom/1865-1917/essays/segregation.htm>.
People of these different races were forced to attend different schools and universities completely separate from whites. [2] Education was a basic need for individuals to prepare them for a successful life and blacks didn’t have the choice of what school they wanted to go to. Not only were schools separate, but sidewalks, drinking fountains, buses, and trains were also divided among the different races. [3]
In public areas, blacks and whites were also distinguished their own places. An African American person could not enter a white owned or occupied park and the same went for a white American in a black owned or occupied park. Also divided in southern society were sidewalks. African Americans had a separate side to whites on paved walkways. Also water fountains, a object that harnessed a necessity to live a healthy life, was divided among those in society because certain races were considered dirty, or whites didn’t want to share any type of hygienic contact with those not of their color.
On a train, blacks were only allowed to occupy certain sections and even had some of their own train cars. If they were found on a white car, they could be arrested or fined as though they were “trespassing”. On buses, whites were seated in the front and blacks were seated in the back. Even if a black individual was seated in the front first, a white person had superiority and was able to claim the seat although it was definitely already taken. One man’s view that the separation of the train cars was unnecessary lead to the historic case, Plessy v. Ferguson.
In 1896, the Plessy v. Ferguson case was decided. It arose when, Plessy, a man one-eighth African decent, sat on the wrong side of the bus as a test to get arrested and challenge the court. [4] The court ruled that the constitution is colorblind and it can only change the political aspects of racial equality. The judge reasoned that the attitudes of the other races, as in White Americans, cannot be changed or be forced to change which could have even more enabled the separation among blacks and white. This case paved way for “separate but equal”. Nearly everything in society was separate, but almost nothing was equal. I believe the interactions of the different races in Post- Reconstruction segregation were absolutely ridiculous. Why should a person be denied or looked down upon for the skin color one cannot simply choose? We are born with our skin color, eye color, and nose shape already chosen for us. No race that walked the streets of the south of time should have been segregated and divided.
[1] 1882, and the Democrats in South Carolina were firmly in power. Republicans were contained in the heavily black counties of Beaufort. "Disfranchisement after the Reconstruction Era - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Oct. 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disfranchisement_after_the_Reconstruction_Era>.
[4] Ferguson, John Howard, and the Louisiana Supreme Court. "Plessy vs. Ferguson." Ferris State University: Michigan College Campuses in Big Rapids MI, Grand Rapids MI, Off Campus Locations Across Michigan . N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Oct. 2013. <http://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/links/misclink/plessy/>.
[2] integration: Reconstruction to 1954 | Infoplease.com." Infoplease: Encyclopedia, Almanac, Atlas, Biographies, Dictionary, Thesaurus. Free online reference, research & homework help. | Infoplease.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Oct. 2013. <http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/history/integration-reconstruction-to-1954.html>.
[3] Segregation, Freedom's Story, TeacherServe®, National Humanities Center." National Humanities Center - Welcome to the National Humanities Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Oct. 2013. <http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/tserve/freedom/1865-1917/essays/segregation.htm>.