NEW ORLEANS (AP) — More than a century after Homer Plessy's railroad ride across Lake Pontchartrain became the basis of the country's Jim Crow laws, the descendants of Plessy and the judge who upheld the "separate but equal" laws are working together to help stamp out racism.
On June 7, 1892, Plessy boarded a white-only
railroad car in New Orleans in a well-choreographed, deliberate violation of
Louisiana law. The 30-year-old black shoemaker was arrested and a citizens' group
who supported his civil disobedience sued, beginning a case often cited as one
of the starting points of the modern civil rights movement.
Judge John Howard Ferguson ruled in the state's
favor. The case made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court, where in 1896 the
justices upheld the "separate but equal" doctrine. The court reversed
course with the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education ruling.
Fifty years later, relatives of Plessy and Ferguson
met and together, they now run a foundation providing civil rights education,
preservation and outreach.
"When I first met her I said, 'It's not Plessy
vs. Ferguson anymore. Now it's Plessy and Ferguson. I had no idea that would
become the name of our foundation," said Keith Plessy, who met Phoebe
Ferguson in 2004 when they both attended a book signing.
A friendship quickly formed, and the foundation was
created in 2009.
"So far, we've been doing what people did when
they formed the Citizens' Committee in the first place," Plessy said.
"They saw something that needed to be done and did it. We're trying to do
the same."
Keith Plessy grew up knowing what his
great-grandfather's cousin had done, leading discussions in school. Ferguson,
54, a documentary film maker who grew up in New York, didn't learn about her
connection to the case until she was contacted by a man who had purchased a
home her great-great-grandfather owned in New Orleans.
"I couldn't believe it," Ferguson said.
"I don't think my parents knew, and my older brother and sister never said
anything."
Ferguson said the association made her
uncomfortable.
"I didn't make the decision, but I feel a
responsibility for it," said Ferguson, who moved to New Orleans after
Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005.
Keith Plessy, also 54, believes the two were meant
to meet.
"We're both from New Orleans and we're both
born in the same year — 1957— the same year the Little Rock Nine integrated a
school in Arkansas," said Plessy, who has worked at a New Orleans hotel
for 30 years. "We were destined to become friends."
The foundation works to honor the civil rights
movement and put up plaques to identify historic sites in Louisiana. So far,
they have erected one to mark the 50th anniversary of integrated schools in New
Orleans and marked the site where Homer Plessy boarded the train.
The foundation also teaches about Homer Plessy's
strategy of deliberate disobedience.
"That part of our history is so poorly taught
in American text books," Ferguson said. "What we like to do is go to
classrooms and bring a living legacy to the room."
Tulane University historian Lawrence Powell said
the lessons are needed.
"But it's not so much what's being taught as
what the two of them together symbolize — that there is the possibility of
reconciliation," he said.
On Tuesday night, Plessy, Ferguson and others will
meet at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts to celebrate Plessy Day with
civil rights-themed performances and readings.
"It's good to see something good coming out of
that ruling and that time," Plessy said. "Phoebe and I both wanted
that."
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.
(AP
Photo/Bill Haber)
