Going along life, we come in contact with much good and much that is not good. With mankind existing and with differing dispositions in hearts there has bound be unhappiness mixed in with good life. It is revolting to know that history is filled with bizarre sadness yet sprinkles of happiness can and do result, in time.
In 1892, Homer Adam Plessy an African American shoemaker from Orleans Parish in Louisiana USA was arrested on a train.
His crime: being black in a white train car.
Plessy was asked and refused to leave and “all white” rail car. After a night in jail he was tried and convicted in criminal court before Judge John Howard Ferguson and charged with violating the Separate Car Act. He ultimately had to pay a fine. By the way, he was 1/8 black and 7/8 white – the conductor had to ask him, as it was then, if he was black which he affirmed. He and his family were activists in equal treatment for blacks especially in public schools, to which they were unsuccessful.
His case went to the U. S. Supreme Court which upholded the “separate but equal” segregation laws. It was a 7 to 1 vote and they ruled that passengers have to be separated by race.
https://www.britannica.com/event/Plessy-v-Ferguson-1896
However, on 5 Jan 2022, after 130 years, the Louisiana, Governor John Bel Edwards, signed a pardon for what he called an “unjust criminal conviction”, stating “pardon has been a long time coming”.
This was done in a ceremony, near the site of the arrest, now historic, with descendants from Plessy and Ferguson (judge who handled the original case) present:
– first cousin, 3 generations removed from Plessy – Keith Plessy
– the great great granddaughter of the segregated court Judge Harlan, who convicted Plessy – Phoebe Ferguson
– the great granddaughter of Judge John Harlan who was the lone vote against segregation and in support of Plessy – he said the constitution is color blind, cellist who played at the event – Kate Dillingham.
The descendants united and created the Plessy & Ferguson foundation, to educate and remind people of the impact of Plessy vs Ferguson case.
As the governor stood at a lectern at the celebration, with the signed and nicely bound certificate in a sleeve folder, he announced that Homer Plessy was the first person in Louisiana to be pardoned posthumously and 130 years after he stood up for the right to sit in a “whites only” section of a train. This was so emotional to witness, as justice so overdue was served.
Watching this being televised one can feel the deep emotion and relief of Keith Plessy and the onlookers, for what Homer Plessy endured and never lived to see justice served to him.
As the descendants sat together in an interview, Keith Plessy hearing the pardon said, “those words are magic”.
Phoebe Ferguson said, “it’s etched in stone”.
How touching a crescendo now, the Judge who presides at the courtroom where Plessy was convicted, intend to name her courtroom after him, Homer Plessy.
Happy Happy!