History of Segregation
The Civil Rights Act of 1866 declared that “all persons born in the United States and not subject to any foreign power…are hereby declared to be citizens of the United States; and such citizens, of every race and color, without regard to any previous condition of slavery or involuntary servitude…shall have the same right, in every State and Territory in the United States.”
In 1868, Congress ratified the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. This amendment granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States, including formerly enslaved people and it provided “equal protection of the laws.” This amendment became the essential foundation for civil and legal rights for Black Americans. Unfortunately, these laws failed to protect Blacks from segregation.
“All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” — Section 1, 14th Amendment, United States Constitution
Jim Crow Era
Even after civil rights legislation declaring equality had been passed, many states and localities in the South enacted “Jim Crow” laws as a way to restrict how and where Black citizens could live, work, and travel. Public places and spaces became segregated— theaters, restaurants, parks, restrooms, waiting rooms, water fountains, pools, hospitals, and bus and train stations. Segregation laws also existed in some states in the North. These types of laws persisted until the 1950s and 60s.
“During the Jim Crow era, black public employees were paid less than white employees; state supported schools, colleges and universities were segregated; and the education facilities provided to Negroes were inferior. Housing, including public housing, was segregated. All forms of transportation were segregated. Black people were excluded from public parks and recreational facilities, and all public places were strictly segregated by race.” —Oliver Hill, The Big Bang (2007). p. Viii
Circa 1946, Margie M. Jumper, a resident of Gainsboro, refused to give up her trolley seat to a white man while riding home after a day of domestic work. She was arrested for violating a city ordinance that prohibited blacks and whites from sitting together on public transportation. She was sent to jail, pleaded guilty, and the incident was mostly forgotten. Jumper’s arrest occurred at least a decade before Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. In 2003, Margie Jumper was one of the first recipients of the Rev. R. R. Wilkinson Memorial Award for Social Justice.
”I felt like I had the right to sit anywhere anyone else did.”
—Margie Jumper
Separate but Equal
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
This Lousianna Supreme Court case advanced the “separate but equal” doctrine for assessing the constitutionality of racial segregation laws. It wasn’t until 1954 that the judicial precedent was overturned.
In 1892 in New Orleans, Homer Adoph Plessy, a person of mixed European and African American descent, purchased a ticket and refused to sit in a train car for Black passengers. He was arrested for violating Lousianna’s Separate Car Act (1890) which required railroads to provide “equal but separate accommodations” for White and Black passengers. The law also prohibited passengers from entering unassigned accommodations.
Mr. Plessy challenged his violation on the basis that the act was unconstitutional. He lost his challenge in the district court and filed an appeal to the Louisiana Supreme Court. The latter court affirmed the district court decision, advising that the statute was a reasonable regulation consistent with established usages, customs, and traditions of the people. Furthermore, it held the separation of the two races in public was not unreasonable and was consistent with numerous state-court decisions affirming the constitutionality of laws establishing separate public schools for whites and African Americans.
“The thing that made me determined to go to law school was actually learning that it was the Supreme Court that had taken away our rights…I was determined to go to law school, become trained as a lawyer, and endeavor to get the Court to reverse its previous error in Plessy v. Ferguson.” —Oliver Hill, The Big Bang (2007), p. 73
Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
This was a landmark U.S. Supreme Court Case that ended racial segregation in public schools. It furthered the civil rights movement and resulted in significant changes in public schools and in racial integration of businesses and public places. Oliver White Hill was part of the legal team led by Thurgood Marshall, Chief Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.
Brown v. Board of Education was actually five school segregation cases combined into a single case. The cases were:
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- Belton v. Gebhart (1952, Delaware)
- Briggs v. R. W. Elliott (1952, South Carolina)
- Bolling, et.al. v. C. Melvine Sharpe, et. al. (1954, District of Columbia)
- Davis v. Prince Edward County (1954, Virginia)
- Oliver L. Brown, et.al. v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954, Kansas);
The combined lawsuit claimed that schools for Black students were not equal to those for White students and that segregation violated the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U. S. Constitution. The Court agreed, finding that separate educational facilities are “inherently unequal” and therefore, laws that impose them violate the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States.
In 1955 the U.S. Supreme Court set forth procedures for desegregation and ordered integration “with all deliberate speed.”
“A courageous civil rights advocate, Oliver Hill has devoted his life to building a more just and inclusive America. As a trial lawyer, he won landmark cases that secured equal rights for African Americans in education, employment, housing, voting, and jury selection. Successfully litigating one of the school desegregation cases later decided by the Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education, he played a key role in overturning the “separate but equal” doctrine. For his unyielding efforts to improve the lives of his fellow Americans and his unwavering dedication to justice for all, our Nation honors Oliver Hill.”
(Citation on Presidential Medal of Freedom, 1991, Oliver White Hill)
Sources
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Justia U.S. Supreme Court. (n.d.) Green v. County Sch. Bd. of New Kent County, 391 U.S. 430 (1968). Accessed February 9, 2022, from https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/391/430/
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Justia US Law. (n.d.) Green v. School Board of City of Roanoke, 330 F. Supp. 674 (W.D. Va. 1971). Retrieved February 9, 2022, from https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/330/674/2126324/
Justia U. S. Supreme Court. (n.d.) Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 (1896) Law. 1896.
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White, C. (1982). Roanoke 1740-1982. Roanoke Valley Historical Society. Hickory Printing, Roanoke, Virginia.