Comité des Citoyens

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The Comité des Citoyens (lit. 'Citizens' Committee' French:

civil rights group made up of African Americans, whites, and Creoles. It is most well known for its involvement in Plessy v. Ferguson. The Citizens' Committee was opposed to racial segregation and was responsible for multiple demonstrations in which African Americans rode on the "white" cars of trains.[1]

A prominent member of the group was Louis A. Martinet, a politician, journalist, and lawyer who is credited with much of the thinking behind their legal strategy.[2]

History

In 1890, the State of

railroad cars.[3] At the suggestion of Aristide Mary, a wealthy Creole landowner who was active in Louisiana's Reconstruction era politics, including running for governor in 1872,[4] a group of 18 prominent black, creole of color, and white creole New Orleans residents met at the offices of The New Orleans Crusader, a black Republican newspaper, and formed the Comité des Citoyens to challenge the law. Many of the Crusader's staff were among the group's members, including the paper's publisher, Martinet, and the writer Rodolphe Desdunes.[5] Mary's aim was to establish a "dignified" organization that would mount legal challenges to Louisiana's new segregation policies.[6]

Plessy v. Ferguson

Main articles: Plessy v. Ferguson and Homer Plessy

In 1892 by the Citizens' Committee recruited

Orleans Parish jail, and released the next day on a $500 bond.[8]

The judge presiding over his case,

David Josiah Brewer did not participate because of the recent death of his daughter), the Court rejected Plessy's arguments based on the Fourteenth Amendment, seeing no way in which the Louisiana statute violated it.[8]

After the decision by the Supreme Court the Citizens' Committee stated, "We, as freemen, still believe that we were right and our cause is sacred."[10] Plessy returned to Ferguson's court, pleaded guilty, and was sentenced to pay a $25 fine, which the Comité des Citoyens paid[11] before disbanding.[12]

References

  1. ^ Shay, Alison (May 18, 2012). "Remembering Homer Plessy". Publishing the Long Civil Rights Movement. Archived from the original on January 31, 2017. Retrieved January 19, 2017.
  2. ^ Adelson, Jeff. "Here are final recommendations to rename 37 New Orleans streets, parks". NOLA.com. Archived from the original on 2021-02-25. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
  3. ^ "Plessy v. Ferguson". Encyclopedia of American Studies. 2010. Retrieved December 22, 2012.
  4. ISBN 0-8071-2740-X
    – via Google Books.
  5. ^ Medley 2003, p. 31
  6. ^ Desdunes 2001, p. 141.
  7. ^ A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography. 1988. p. 655.
  8. ^ a b c Reckdahl, Katy (February 11, 2009). "Plessy and Ferguson Unveil Plaque Today Marking Their Ancestors' Actions". The Times Picayune. Retrieved January 19, 2017.
  9. JSTOR 27553056
    .
  10. ^ Medley 2003
  11. ^ Fireside 2004, p. 229
  12. ^ Elliott 2006, p. 294

Bibliography

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