Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
The ruling in this Supreme Court case upheld a Louisiana state law that allowed for "equal but separate accommodations for the white and colored races." from Our Documents project
Berea College v. Kentucky (1908)
Can a private college in Kentucky accept both white and black students? The state of Kentucky said "No", and the Supreme Court upheld that law. In this decision, the Supreme Court upheld a Kentucky law entitled "An Act to Prohibit White and Colored Persons from Attending the Same School". Although Plessy v Ferguson gets most of the attention, this case also serves well to give students a better appreciation of the nature of discrimination before the modern Civil Rights movement.
Kentucky New Era 3 13 03 - Niggers in the White House - (Newspaper Advertisement)
This poem was printed in a number of newspapers across the country after Booker T Washington's visit to the White House. It resurfaced in later years in subsequent visits by African-Americans to the White House. Confronting 21stC students with this must be done with care.
Richmond Times newspaper's Reaction to Booker T Washington in the White House - October 1901
This Virginia newspaper recorded that they were shocked that Teddy Roosevelt would lower the dignity of the White House by dining with a Negro
Plessy v. Ferguson :: 163 U.S. 537 (1896) :Opinion of the Court
Text of the opinion itself. Students would be better served by a quote from the opinion than a teacher's bullet point description on a lecture slide
The argument also assumes that social prejudices may be overcome by legislation, and that equal rights cannot be secured to the negro except by an enforced commingling of the two races. We cannot accept this proposition. If the two races are to meet upon terms of social equality, it must be the result of natural affinities, a mutual appreciation of each other's merits, and a voluntary consent of individuals.
<p>If the civil and political rights of both races be equal, one cannot be inferior to the other civilly </p>
<p><a id="552" href="#552">[552</a>]</p>
<p> or politically. If one race be inferior to the other socially, the Constitution of the United States cannot put them upon the same plane.</p>
Heirs of Plessy v. Ferguson team up for change -
This five minute video is a local news broadcast featuring the great granddaughter New Orleans judge Ferguson and the great grandson of a cousin of Homer Plessy. Their meeting is hard to believe, but what they did after they met is even more important. Students should see this
How Woodrow Wilson’s racist policies eroded the Black civil service | Haas News | Berkeley Haas
Any argument referencing "systematic" racism would be well-served by research into the segregation of the federal workforce during the Wilson administration. Census data shows a significant wage gap and suppression of black home-ownership resulting from federally sanctioned segregation and discrimination