“Our Constitution is colorblind and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens. "" Said Justice John Marshall Harlan in the case of Plessy v. Ferguson. ("Oyez, Oyez, Oh Yay!") In 1890, Louisiana was surprisingly able to pass a law called the Separate Car Act which stipulated that all railroad companies that carried passengers had to provide separate but equal to white and non-white passengers. . (“Historical Cases”) The penalty for sitting in a white designated railroad car when you were not of that ethnicity was a twenty-five dollar fine or twenty days in jail. (“Historical Cases”) A doctrine was adopted that everything was “separate but equal.” This doctrine was false, however, because in almost every situation the facilities were not as good for blacks as those used by whites. This doctrine was not fully applied until after the “Plessy v. Ferguson.” (Wormer) In 1883, the Supreme Court did not allow the 1875 Act to pass because it believed that the 14th Amendment did not give Congress the right to end racial discrimination by individuals . People facing racial discrimination had to find help within their own state. Unfortunately, many states accepted cases in favor of separating the different races. When the bill proposing segregated railroad cars was introduced in Louisiana in 1890, it was strongly protested by blacks living in that state. Unfortunately, the law was passed. After the Separate Car Act, a group of black citizens came together and formed the "Citizens' Committee to Test the Constitutionality of the Separate Car Act." They hired an attorney and on May 15, 1892, the state Supreme Court recognized that the law was... middle of paper ...... Ty to live in the land of the free and home of the brave . Works CitedLRE,. “Plessy V. Ferguson.” Hear, Hear, Oh yeah!. State Bar of Texas, 2011. Web. October 27, 2011. “Plessy V. Ferguson “Separate But Equal,” Equal Protection.” Notable cases. Street Law, Inc. and The Supreme Court Historical Society, 2010. Web. November 4, 2011. “Rosa Parks.” Success Academy. Catherine Reynolds Foundation, September 23, 2011. Web. October 29, 2011. Wormser, Richard. “Plessy V. Ferguson.” The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow. Educational Broadcasting Corporation, 2002. Web. October 29 2011. .