1.1. The Supreme Court helped undermine the Constitutional protections of blacks (13th, 14th, &15th amendment), which legitimized Jim Crow laws and the Jim Crow way of life.
1.2. Plessy's lawyer argued that Louisiana did not have the right to label one citizen as white and another black for the purposes of restricting their rights and privileges.
1.3. The Plessy decision set the precedent that "separate" facilities for blacks and whites were constitutional as long as they were "equal." The "separate but equal" doctrine was quickly extended to cover many areas of public life.
1.4. Not until 1954, in the equally important Brown v. Board of Education decision, would the "separate but equal" doctrine be struck down.
2. Jim Crow
2.1. It was a way of life and represented the legitimization of anti-black racism. Jim crow could not work without violence being used against those on the bottom rung
2.2. Belief that whites were superior to blacks in all ways including intelligence, morality, and behavior. Black and white sexual or casual relationships was frowned upon and would destroy America.
2.3. Louisiana passed the "Separate Car Law," which purported to aid passenger comfort by creating "equal but separate" cars for blacks and whites.
2.4. Lynching was a main form of violence and most blacks were lynched for demanding civil rights, violating Jim Crow etiquette or laws, or in the aftermath of race riots.
3. The Spanish War
3.1. This war was also about race. African American soldiers were seen as substandard citizens.
3.2. At the end of the war, African Americans were incorporated into the U.S military. The "Buffalo Soldiers" were established by congress as the first all-black regiments in the U.S Army.
3.3. The war helped obtain American hegemony over the Pacific. In Latin America, the U.S became much more aggressive and intervention were justified by the Monroe Doctrine.
4. Race and Housing
4.1. In the 1930s, the government created the Federal Housing Administration, to help Veterans buy a new home. African American Veterans were still being discriminated against buying these new homes.
4.2. Blacks were told that the owners of the development weren't sure if they would sell the house to Negros. FHA warned that the presence of even one "non-white" family could undermine real estate values.
4.3. The government institutionalized the National Appraisal System, in which race would play a factor in real estate assessment as the condition of the property.
