SEGREGATION

        It is rare for men to predict the future.  It is also a rare occurrence when educated men are paying so close attention to social patterns that they can foresee social issues in the midst of their emergence.  However, in 1898, W.E.B DuBois did just this.  In his book, The Souls of Black Folk, DuBois claims that the issue of the twentieth century will be the “race line” and he was more than correct.  DuBois predicted the importance of this issue in American culture to come. One of the predominant issues surrounding the race line was segregation.  Segregation had a longstanding era in American culture and law, and its effects have tainted the American psyche and bruised the ideals for which American was founded. During the late 19^th century on through the mid 20^th century the tension between American idealistic law and American cultural practice came to a head, as segregation saw it’s peak with Jim Crow Laws, and saw it’s destruction with the passing of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

During the late 1800s segregation was, for lack of better words, blossoming in American culture. The most segregated parts of the United States were concentrated in the American South, and the laws that directed this segregation were both cultural and governmental.  The most severe of these laws were known as Jim Crow Laws. According to Tindall and Shi “violence accompanied the Jim Crow Laws” (536). During the end of the 19^th century, 82 percent of the average 188 lynchings per year happened in the South (Tindall 536).  Brutal violence on blacks during this time was not uncommon, and many times went unpunished, as most lynchings were carried out by mobs. 

The Jim Crow Laws highlight the most segregated era of American history.  One of the Jim Crow laws included a Miscegenation law.  In 1870, the Tennessee constitution prohibited intermarriage “between white persons and Negroes, or descendants of Negro ancestors to the third generation” (Jim Crow Laws, Blackpast.org).  Furthermore, this specific Miscegenation law held for many years, prohibiting as late as 1955 the marriage and living together as man and wife for racially mixed couples (Blackpast.org).  The Jim Crow Laws were certainly one of the most prosperous times of segregation in Southern law. 

Segregation had a broader scope than simply the Jim Crow laws, however.  In 1896, the Supreme Court heard the case Plessy v. Ferguson, in which it revealed by law, the constitutional interpretation of segregation and racial issues.  The court stated during this case that there were constitutional justifications for segregation, or rather, that segregation was not unconstitutional. The court overturned the claim to the thirteenth amendment, stating that racially segregated railcars, “[do] not conflict with the thirteenth amendment” in that having rail cars separated by race has nothing to do with slavery (Plessy v. Ferguson, Blackpast.org).  Furthermore, while there was more argument for Plessy under the 14^th Amendment, the Supreme Court stated that:

We think the enforced separation of the races, as applied to the internal commerce of the state, neither abridges the privileges or immunities of the colored man, deprives him of his property without due process of law, nor denies him the equal protection of the laws, within the meaning of the fourteenth amendment (Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896).

Segregation was an issue whose veins ran deep in American culture and certainly started prior to Plessy v Ferguson. However, within this monumental court case, America saw segregation supported by the highest court in the land.  This case established by law the “separate, but equal” clause, stating that blacks and whites can be segregated as long as the conditions were separate, but equal. The defeat of Plessy in this case could easily be seen as failure, however, this case did more than justify segregation.  It also increased the passion and momentum for the desegregation movement.

While the movement for freeing blacks from social injustices started back as far as the Emancipation Proclamation, the movement for desegregation began in the late 19^th century. As with any productive social movement, the desegregation movement needed leaders. Prominent African American figures in America at the time, such as W.E.B Dubois and Fredrick Douglass served as these leaders, calling for social equality by the 1890s. Even though these two men were calling for completely different pathways for social justice, they both were calling for social change.  Washington called for education first, and then social change – DuBois “demanded that disenfranchisement and legalized segregation cease” (Tindall 540). Nevertheless, both of these men certainly had visions and desires of racial equality.

The call for desegregation was founded upon many ethical and law based principles.  While many social leaders were calling for desegregation through out the early 1900s, there was not much change until the WWI era.  In 1917, during the height of The Great War, the Supreme Court heard the Buchanan v. Warley case.  This case was a very influential case for blacks in America.  Within the ruling of the case, the Supreme Court stated that no longer could states regulate residential segregation.  As quoted by the court, this type of regulated segregation is a violation of the 14^th amendment, and also the inalienable rights of citizens to life, liberty and property. The Supreme Court dictated that while many people may want to preserve the “purity” of the races, however “in view of the rights secured by the Fourteenth Amendment to the Federal Constitution such legislation must have its limitations, and cannot be sustained where the exercise of authority exceeds the restraints of the Constitution. We think these limitations are exceeded in laws and ordinances of the character now before us” (Buchanan v. Warley 1917, Blackpast.org). As previously urged by W.E.B DuBois, African Americans were finally gaining social rights by law.  This, however, is not to say that practices such as Red Lining did not occur, but by law, these practices were now illegal and could be punishable by law. 

Notwithstanding the change of time, segregation was inevitably going to fail against the pressure of progress.  This was evidenced further in the 1940s and 50s.  After the Second World War, president Truman declared by Executive Order 9981, that the United States Armed Forces be desegregated (Blackpast.org). Just two years after this Executive Order, the Supreme Court took desegregation into the educational system. 

In 1950, Sweatt v. Painter was brought before the Supreme Court.  Within this case, Herman Sweatt applied for University of Texas Law School and was immediately denied admittance.  After this, Sweatt took his case to the court system, and when the case reached the Supreme Court, it was ruled upon that “states must make equal educational facilities available to African American graduate and professional students” (Blackpast.org).  This case was monumental in the desegregation movement in that equal access to higher education was now available to both blacks and whites. In addition to this case, another monumental case was decided upon in 1954.  Brown v. the Board of Education of Topeka reversed the ruling of the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson and declared that the conditions under which “separate, but equal” was decided actually resulted in “separate, but unequal.” This reversal of Plessy v. Ferguson also called for integration of schools. With this, the movement for desegregation was almost complete.

The final step in the desegregation movement happened during 1964 after a long and sometimes violent struggle since 1890.  In 1964, the Civil Rights Act was passed, which “bans discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin” (Blackpast.org).  While the Civil Rights Act dealt more broadly than simply segregation it was aimed at providing equal rights for all. In essence, with the completion of desegregation after the passing of the Civil Rights Act, the American ideals of “life, liberty and pursuit of happiness” were once again made possible. 

While the United States still has a long way to go on complete racial equality, the era from 1890-1965 will forevermore live in American history as a tumultuous time of segregation, racial hatred and inequality.  Segregation had an era in which it flourished, but thankfully, like any unjust cause, it could not withstand the pressure of progress and the necessity of equality. Without remorse or pain, the United States said goodbye to segregation forever, and hello to a new era of change and progress.