Citizens’ Committee to Test the Constitutionality of the Separate Car Law

The Citizens' Committee to Test the Constitutionality of the Separate Car Law was an American organization formed in Louisiana in the early 1890s. Its primary goal was to challenge the constitutionality of the state's Separate Car Act of 1890, which mandated racial segregation on public transportation.1

The committee, largely composed of the Creole community, raised funds to support a legal challenge. They strategically selected Homer Plessy, a man of mixed race who could pass for white, to test the law. Plessy purchased a first-class ticket and refused to move to the "colored" car, leading to his arrest. This act was intended to create a test case that would eventually reach the U.S. Supreme Court. However, the Supreme Court upheld the Separate Car Act in the landmark Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896, establishing the "separate but equal" doctrine that legalized racial segregation for decades.12