Movement to posthumously award Homer Plessy Presidental Medal of Freedom gains momentum
2nd May 2016 · 0 Comments
By Prescotte Stokes, III
Contributing Writer
As the 120th anniversary of the Plessy v. Ferguson decision approaches on May 18, the Plessy and Ferguson Foundation has begun an online push to have Homer A. Plessy nominated as a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The medal is generally recognized as the second-highest civilian award of our government.
Keith Plessy, President & Co-founder of the Plessy and Ferguson Foundation based in New Orleans, has been working to get recognition for his fourth-generation relative since 1996. He says that Plessy’s role in the American civil rights struggle is largely overlooked when compared to Rosa Parks or the Freedom Riders because their actions resulted in positive gains for the movement.
“It’s a misinterpretation,” said Plessy. “This case inspired the formation of the Niagara movement, the NAACP if someone had not stood up at the turn of the century.”
He says that Plessy’s name has been wrongfully associated with the oppressive stigma of Jim Crow laws being upheld by the United States Supreme Court in 1896. The Supreme Court’s 7 – 1 ruling in that case made ‘separate but equal’ facilities lawful. The ruling made way for Jim Crow laws to be legal for more than 50 years after the ruling. Pluses says the seven justices’ that ruled against his relative almost 120 years ago should carry the shame of the ruling.
“The seven Supreme Court Justices should bare the weight of separate but equal not Homer Plessy,” said Plessy.
On June 7, 1892 a New Orleans multiracial group called the Citizens’ Committee challenged the state of Louisiana’s Separate Car Law, which mandated separate accommodation for Black and white railroad passengers. The organization recruited Plessy, who was mixed race and considered an ‘octaroon’ because he was one-eighth Black to ride in the ‘whites-only’ section of a train to test the new law.
He purchased a first-class ticket and boarded the East Louisiana Railroad Co. train at Press and Royal streets headed for Covington, Louisiana. The Committee had hired a private detective and a train conductor from the East Louisiana Railroad to challenge and detain Plessy until police arrived.
The railroad company opposed the new law because of the cost of maintaining two separate trains, while the Committee felt like Plessy’s light-skinned complexion would highlight the uncertainty of the law and appeal to compassionate white people. After being arrested for refusing to give up his seat on the train he became the plaintiff in a case that eventually made it’s way to the Supreme Court.
In a 7 to 1 landmark decision the Justice’s ruled against him in the Plessy v. Ferguson case in 1896 making ‘Separate but equal’ the law of the land. The court cited the 13th and 14th amendments in the rulings saying that they guaranteed political equality, but made no mention of social equality. Plessy says understanding the thought process behind the ruling seems to get skimmed over when the story is presented.
“Homer Plessy was not asking for segregation he was talking against it, said Plessy. You have seven justice’s who’s ruling basically said let’s make discrimination law in America and they get none of the blame.”
That ruling justified legal segregation for the next 58 years across the United States.
Plessy returned to his life as a private citizen after the case and later died in 1925. A commemorative plaque has been placed on Plessy’s tombstone at the St. Louis No. 1 Cemetery to commemorate his contributions.
It wasn’t until a few decades later when a new era of the Civil Rights Movement led to the 1954 case of Brown v. Board of Education being heard by the Supreme Court.
In 1961 the Freedom Riders began their effective campaign to pressure the federal government to enforce its ruling in the Rosa Parks case that segregated public buses were unconstitutional. The combined efforts of these Americans eventually led to the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Today, the Plessy and Ferguson Foundation says that Homer Plessy has never been officially acknowledged for his contributions to the civil rights movement. In 2009 the Citizens’ Committee put up a historical marker at Press and Royal streets in New Orleans to honor Plessy. Now, the foundation has started a petition called ‘WeThePeople’ on the WhiteHouse.gov website to have him nominated for the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Anyone 13 years or older can get more information about the case on the PlessyandFerguson.org website and also find a link to sign the petition. The foundation has until May 15th to garner 100,000 signatures in support of Plessy for it to be taken to the President Barack Obama’s desk for consideration.
But, the foundation has a secondary plan that’s already in the works. Plessy has written a letter to President Barack Obama with help from professors and a historian from the University of New Orleans and Tulane University. He also had help from Louisiana 2nd District State Representative, Cedric Richmond to get the letter to President Obama.
A letter has been drafted by Rep. Cedric Richmond with supporting signatures from other members of Congress urging Pres. Obama to posthumously confer the honor upon Plessy in recognition of the 120th anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court case. That letter has reportedly been delivered to Mr. Obama’s office.
There are not any rules regarding the selection process for the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The medal can be given to any recipient the President chooses and does not need congressional approval or the full 100,000 petition signatures.
“If the letter reaches him and touches his heart he can say this is long over due and I’m going to give this guy a medal, said Plessy.”
This article originally published in the May 2, 2016 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
