The plaintiff in the landmark 1896 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Plessy v. Ferguson has been pardoned by Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards in what he said was a symbolic step toward equality and justice.
The posthumous pardon was granted on Jan. 5 to Homer A. Plessy, who was convicted of disobeying the state’s Separate Car Act of 1890, which was designed to advance racial segregation on rail lines. Ultimately, the high court ruled against Plessy’s objections to the law, concluding that laws which discriminate on the basis of race are valid provided that “separate but equal” opportunities are afforded to all races.
The 1896 opinion was in force until 1954, when the U.S. Supreme Court found the “separate but equal” doctrine unconstitutional because separate facilities are inherently unequal.
“The 1896 Plessy decision ordained segregation for the explicit purpose of declaring and perpetuating white supremacy, as immoral and factually erroneous as that was – and is,” Edwards said in a prepared statement.
Angela Allen-Bell, a professor at the Southern University Law Center in Baton Rouge, said the governor’s actions and words should help to advance the cause of racial reconciliation and fidelity to equal treatment under the law.
“The pardon must serve as a springboard for larger truth-telling and narrative change efforts, such as historically accurate textbooks; curriculum upgrades; (and) academic lessons void of bias and stereotypes …” Allen-Bell said in an email to the Louisiana Record.
The timing of the announcement – 125 years after Plessy’s conviction in Orleans Parish Criminal District Court – should not go unnoticed, she said.
“It follows a long period of racial unrest in this state and country, and it coincides with a pending decision about social studies standards that will be submitted to the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) in March 2022 for Louisiana’s K-12 students,” Allen-Bell said.
In making his announcement, Edwards was joined by descendants of the key figures in the Plessy v. Ferguson case. These included descendants of Plessy; of Supreme Court Justice John Harlan, who dissented from the majority opinion; and of Judge John Ferguson. Others attending included Allen-Bell and Orleans District Attorney Jason Williams.