July 1890

Louisiana passes the Separate Car Act, requiring railroads to provide 'equal but separate' accommodations for Black and white passengers, with fines up to $500 or 20 days' imprisonment for violations. New Orleans' Citizens' Committee, a Creole civil rights organization, immediately organizes a legal challenge. They recruit Homer Plessy — one-eighth Black and visually white — specifically to test the law's racial classification logic.

Louisiana enacted the Separate Car Act on July 10, 1890, requiring racial segregation on all railroads in the state. The New Orleans Comité des Citoyens — a Creole civil rights organization — immediately organized a legal challenge. Homer Plessy, chosen because his light complexion would highlight the arbitrary nature of racial classification, was arrested in a planned test on June 7, 1892. The resulting Plessy v. Ferguson decision entrenched Jim Crow nationwide.