Homer Adolph Plessy

    Early Life: March seventeenth, 1862, Homer Adolph Plessy was born in New Orleans. His family had mixed racial heritage which meant he could pass as white. This also meant he was considered a free man of color. Plessy considered himself one eighth black because his great grandmother was in fact from Africa. Homer Plessy was a shoemaker who took up social activism. The man served as vice president of the Justice, Protective, Educational and Social Club because that's how much he cared about new Orleans public education.
    The Case: His activism met its peak when he decided to push limits with the law. Plessy at age 30 specifically tested the Separate Car Act. He bought a ticket going first class on the East Louisiana Railroad. When he boarded he took his seat in the whites only section, no one knew that he was partially black. But he stated to the conductor that he was one eighth black and refused to leave the train car. He was then ejected from the train and jailed for the night. His release was a five hundred dollar bond. His court case became known as Plessy v Ferguson. The case ended up going to the Supreme Court and came under the separate but equal clause. It supported segregation and the Jim Crow laws as long as each race's public facilities were equal. 
    After: The Plessy v Ferguson was really the last of his activism as he went back to his normal everyday life. Although Plessy was defeated, his activism had a significant impact on the civil rights movement, and the story is still told today.






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