Louisiana Separate Car Act
E498280
The Louisiana Separate Car Act was an 1890 state law mandating racially segregated railway accommodations, which became the focus of the landmark Plessy v. Ferguson Supreme Court case upholding “separate but equal” segregation.
Statements (44)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
Jim Crow law
ⓘ
state segregation law ⓘ |
| alsoKnownAs | Separate Car Act NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| appliesToJurisdiction | Louisiana NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| contradictedBy |
Civil Rights Act of 1964
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
federal constitutional doctrine against state-mandated racial segregation ⓘ |
| country |
United States of America
ⓘ
surface form:
United States
|
| dateEnacted | 1890 ⓘ |
| discriminatoryAgainst | African Americans NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| documentedIn | Louisiana Acts of 1890 NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| exempts |
Black nurses attending white children
ⓘ
interstate trains to a limited extent, subject to later litigation ⓘ |
| hasCourtChallenge |
Plessy v. Ferguson
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
State of Louisiana v. Plessy (state-level proceedings) NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| hasEffect |
denial of equal access to railway accommodations for Black passengers
ⓘ
institutionalization of racial segregation in public transportation in Louisiana ⓘ legal reinforcement of white supremacy in Louisiana ⓘ |
| hasLegacy | symbol of legalized segregation in U.S. history ⓘ |
| hasTopic |
civil rights
ⓘ
constitutional law ⓘ transportation law ⓘ |
| historicalPeriod | Post-Reconstruction era NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| influenced | expansion of segregation laws in other Southern states ⓘ |
| inForceUntil | mid-20th century civil rights reforms ⓘ |
| inspiredBy | post-Reconstruction white supremacist politics in the American South ⓘ |
| languageOfWorkOrName | English ⓘ |
| legalPrincipleAffirmedByCourt | separate but equal ⓘ |
| legalSubject |
racial segregation
ⓘ
railway transportation ⓘ |
| legislativeBody | Louisiana State Legislature NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| motivatedBy | racial discrimination ⓘ |
| outcomeOfCourtChallenge | upheld as constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in Plessy v. Ferguson ⓘ |
| partOf | Jim Crow segregation regime NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| prohibits | people of different races from occupying the same railway coach in Louisiana, with limited exceptions ⓘ |
| providesFor |
criminal penalties for passengers who refuse to move to assigned segregated cars
ⓘ
criminal penalties for railroad officers who fail to enforce segregation ⓘ |
| regulates |
railroad companies operating within Louisiana
ⓘ
seating arrangements in passenger railway coaches ⓘ |
| requires |
railroad companies to provide equal but separate accommodations for white and Black passengers
ⓘ
separate railway cars for white and Black passengers ⓘ |
| significantEvent | Homer Plessy’s deliberate violation of the law to challenge its constitutionality ⓘ |
| testCase | Homer Plessy’s arrest in 1892 ⓘ |
| weakenedBy | Brown v. Board of Education decision of 1954 NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| yearOfEvent | 1892 (Homer Plessy’s arrest under the Act) ⓘ |
Referenced by (2)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.