The journey to separate but equal : Madame DeCuir's quest for racial justice in the Reconstruction era

In The Journey to Separate but Equal: Madame Decuir’s Quest for Racial Justice in the Reconstruction Era , Jack Beermann tells the story of how, in Hall v. Decuir , the post-Civil War US Supreme Court took its first step toward perpetuating the subjugation of the non-White population of the United States by actively preventing a Southern state from prohibiting segregation on a riverboat in the coasting trade on the Mississippi River. The Journey to Separate but Equal offers the first complete exploration of Hall v. Decuir , with an in-depth look at the case’s record; the lives of the parties, lawyers, and judges; and the case’s social context in 1870s Louisiana. The book centers around the remarkable story of Madame Josephine Decuir and the lawsuit she pursued because she had been illegally barred from the cabin reserved for White women on the Governor Allen riverboat. The drama of Madame Decuir’s fight against segregation’s denial of her dignity as a human and particularly as a woman enriches our understanding of the Reconstruction era, especially in Louisiana, including political and legal changes that occurred during that time and the plight of people of color who were freed from slavery but denied their dignity and rights as American citizens. Hall v. Decuir spanned the pivotal period of 1872–1878, during which White segregationist Democrats “redeemed” the South from Republican control. The Supreme Court’s ruling in Hall overturned the application of an 1869 Louisiana statute prohibiting racial segregation in Madame Decuir's case because of the status of the Mississippi River as a mode of interstate commerce. The decision represents a crucial precedent that established the legal groundwork for the entrenchment of Jim Crow in the law of the United States, leading directly to the Court's adoption of "separate but equal" in Plessy v. Ferguson. In The Journey to Separate but Madame Decuirs Quest for Racial Justice in the Reconstruction Era , Jack Beermann tells the story of how, in Hall v. Decuir , the post-Civil War US Supreme Court took its first step toward perpetuating the subjugation of the non-White population of the United States by actively preventing a Southern state from prohibiting segregation on a riverboat in the coasting trade on the Mississippi River. The Journey to Separate but Equal offers the first complete exploration of Hall v. Decuir , with an in-depth look at the cases record; the lives of the parties, lawyers, and judges; and the cases social context in 1870s Louisiana. The book centers around the remarkable story of Madame Josephine Decuir and the lawsuit she pursued because she had been illegally barred from the cabin reserved for White women on the Governor Allen riverboat. The drama of Madame Decuirs fight against segregations denial of her dignity as a human and particularly as a woman enriches our understanding of the Reconstruction era, especially in Louisiana, including political and legal changes that occurred during that time and the plight of people of color who were freed from slavery but denied their dignity and rights as American citizens. Hall v. Decuir spanned the pivotal period of 18721878, during which White segregationist Democrats redeemed the South from Republican control. The Supreme Courts ruling in Hall overturned the application of an 1869 Louisiana statute prohibiting racial segregation in Madame Decuirs case because of the status of the Mississippi River as a mode of interstate commerce. The decision represents a crucial precedent that established the legal groundwork for the entrenchment of Jim Crow in the law of the United States, leading directly to the Courts adoption of separate but equal in Plessy v. Ferguson . "[This book] examines the tragic case of Hall v. DeCuir (1878) that helped pave the way for Plessy v. Ferguson's legitimation of the judicial doctrine and social practice of 'separate but equal' facilities. The book tells the story of the injustice done to Madame Josephine DeCuir in July 1872 aboard the Governor Allen steamship on her overnight journey up the Mississippi River from New Orleans to Point Coupee Parish. DeCuir was denied a room in the ladies' cabin due to her status as a woman of color. Nine days after the trip she filed suit against Captain John Benson, claiming that the refusal to accommodate her violated an 1869 Louisiana statute. The Supreme Court case that followed-=, in which the US Supreme Court reversed the Louisiana Supreme Court's decision, is a rich source of information about the racial attitudes in the aftermath of the Civil War, the special situation of the French-speaking people of color in Louisiana, and the post-Reconstruction 'redemption' of the South that followed the disputed election of 1876"-- Provided by the publisher