|
Separate but equal was a legal doctrine in United States constitutional law that justified and permitted racial segregation as not being in breach of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution which guaranteed equal protection under the law to all citizens, and other federal civil rights laws. Under the doctrine, government was allowed to require that services, facilities, public accommodations, housing, medical care, education, employment, and transportation be separated along racial lines, provided that the quality of each group's public facilities was equal. The phrase was derived from a Louisiana law of 1890, although the law actually used the phrase "equal but separate."〔(Separate but equal: West's Encyclopedia of American Law (Full Article) from Answers.com )〕 The doctrine was confirmed in the ''Plessy v. Ferguson'' decision of 1896, which allowed state-sponsored segregation. Though segregation laws existed before that case, the decision emboldened segregation states during the Jim Crow era, which had commenced in 1876 and replaced the Black Codes, which had restricted the civil rights and civil liberties of African Americans with no pretense of equality during the Reconstruction Era. 17 states had various institutionalized separation laws. The doctrine was overturned by a series of Supreme Court decisions starting with ''Brown v. Board of Education'' in 1954. However, the overturning of legal separation laws in the United States was a long process that lasted through much of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s involving many court cases and federal legislation. ==Origins== The American Civil War (1861–1865) brought slavery in the United States to an end. Following the war, the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution guaranteed equal protection under the law to all citizens, and Congress established the Freedmen's Bureau to assist the integration of former slaves into Southern society. After the end of Reconstruction in 1877, former slave-holding states enacted various laws to undermine the equal treatment of African Americans, although the Fourteenth Amendment as well as federal Civil Rights laws enacted during reconstruction were meant to guarantee it. However Southern states contended that the requirement of equality could be met in a manner that kept the races separate. Furthermore, the state and federal courts tended to reject the pleas by African Americans that their Fourteenth Amendment rights were violated, arguing that the Fourteenth Amendment applied only to federal, not state, citizenship. This rejection is evident in the Slaughter-House Cases and Civil Rights Cases. After the end of Reconstruction, the federal government adopted a general policy of leaving racial segregation up to the individual states. One example of this policy was the second Morrill Act (Morrill Act of 1890). Before the end of the war, the Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act (Morrill Act of 1862) had provided federal funding for higher education by each state with the details left to the state legislatures. The 1890 Act which implicitly accepted the legal concept of separate but equal for the 17 states which had institutionalized segregation. Provided, That no money shall be paid out under this act to any State or Territory for the support and maintenance of a college where a distinction of race or color is made in the admission of students, but the establishment and maintenance of such colleges ''separately'' for white and colored students shall be held to be a compliance with the provisions of this act if the funds received in such State or Territory be ''equitably'' divided as hereinafter set forth.〔"(Act of August 30, 1890, ch. 841, 26 Stat. 417, 7 U.S.C. 322 et seq. )" Act of 1890 Providing for the Further Endowment and Support Of Colleges of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts.〕〔"(104th Congress 1st Session, H. R. 2730 )" To eliminate segregationist monkey from the Second Morrill Act.〕 Prior to the Second Morrill Act, 17 states excluded blacks from access to the land grant colleges without providing similar educational opportunities. In response to the Second Morrill Act, 17 states established separate land grant colleges for blacks which are now referred to as public historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). In fact, some states adopted laws prohibiting schools from educating blacks and whites together, even if a school was willing to do so. (The Constitutionality of such laws was upheld in ''Berea College v. Kentucky'', 211 U.S. 45 (1908).) Under the 'separate but equal doctrine', blacks were entitled to receive the same public services and accommodations such as schools, bathrooms, and water fountains, but states were allowed to maintain different facilities for the two groups. The legitimacy of such laws under the 14th Amendment was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1896 case of ''Plessy v. Ferguson'', ''163 U.S. 537.'' The ''Plessy'' doctrine was extended to the public schools in ''Cumming v. Richmond County Board of Education'', 175 U.S. 528 (1899). Although the Constitutional doctrine required equality, the facilities and social services offered to African-Americans were almost always of lower quality than those offered to white Americans; for example, many African American schools received less public funding per student than nearby white schools. In Texas, the state established a state-funded law school for white students without any law school for black students. In 1892, Homer Plessy, who was of mixed ancestry and appeared to be white, boarded an all-white railroad car between New Orleans and Covington, Louisiana. The conductor of the train collected passenger tickets at their seats. When Plessy told the conductor he was 7/8ths white and 1/8th black, he was advised he needed to move to a coloreds-only car. Plessy said he resented sitting in a coloreds-only car and was arrested immediately. One month after his arrest, Plessy appeared in court before Judge John Howard Ferguson. Plessy's lawyer, Albion Tourgee, claimed Plessy’s 13th and 14th amendment rights were violated. The 13th amendment abolished slavery, and the 14th amendment granted equal protection to all under the law. The Supreme Court decision in ''Plessy v. Ferguson'' established the phrase "separate but equal". The ruling "() railway companies carrying passengers in their coaches in that State to provide equal, but separate, accommodations for the white and colored races…". Accommodations provided on each railroad car were required to be the same as those provided on the others. Separate railroad cars could be provided. The railroad could refuse service to passengers who refused to comply, and the Supreme Court ruled this did not infringe upon the 13th and 14th amendments. The "separate but equal" doctrine applied to railroad cars and to schools, voting rights, and drinking fountains. Segregated schools were created for students, as long as they followed "separate but equal". The notion that they were equal though has been controversial. For example, the majority of all black schools received old textbooks, used equipment, and poorly prepared or trained teachers.〔(nbcnews.com ).〕 A study conducted by the American Psychological Association found that black students were emotionally impaired when segregated at a young age.〔(【引用サイトリンク】first=Kenneth )〕 Furthermore, many black students were forced to associate with "white dolls" or colors similar, but lighter, than their own skin.〔 State voting right restrictions, such as literacy tests and poll taxes created an environment that made it almost impossible for blacks to vote. This era also saw separate drinking fountains in public areas. The "Separate but Equal" doctrine was eventually overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of ''Brown v. Board of Education'' in 1954. But African Americans were still not equal; poorer services and restrictions on voting rights still limited them throughout the United States, and they still were not granted more political and social power than before. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Separate but equal」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|