No research allowed -- have you ever heard of Homer Plessey?

Barb D · Oct 3, 2009

No research allowed -- have you ever heard of Homer Plessy?

Who was Homer Plessy and what did he do?
No research, and no peeking at other answers.
I'm trying to find out how common knowledge he is.

Poll coming.

Puma · Oct 3, 2009

I'm not sure how to respond - if I ever did hear of him (which is a possibility considering my college major), he's long forgotten. Puma

Perks · Oct 3, 2009

Yeah, I said I never heard of him, but it's possible I did and just didn't load it into the permanent archives.

raburrell · Oct 3, 2009

I'm assuming Plessey vs. Ferguson? If so... yes.

Barb D · Oct 3, 2009

raburrell said:
I'm assuming ...? If so... yes.

That's the one.

aadams73 · Oct 3, 2009

Was he involved in: a race relations issue about a century or so back? I don't remember the details, but Homer isn't a common name. Please bear in mind that American History isn't my strength as I wasn't raised over here.

mscelina · Oct 3, 2009

Yes, I do. I heard a lot about the Supreme Court decision when I was a kid in the south. It doesn't bring up pleasant memories.

However, if you're asking if most people would recognize a casual reference to him in a story, the answer would be no. I'd be willing to bet less than 10% of the population could actually reference his relevancy off of just his name, even people familiar with Brown vs the Board of Education.

icerose · Oct 3, 2009

I am absolutely terrible with names. I do remember hearing his name but couldn't remember what had happened. After I answered your poll question I read it and it brought back the memories.

Anyone mentioning his name in text or in passing conversation I would never be able to relate to it.

AnonymousWriter · Oct 3, 2009

Never heard of him.

alleycat · Oct 3, 2009

The name sort of sounds familiar, but to be honest I couldn't tell you who he is or what he did.

Kitty27 · Oct 3, 2009

Yes,I have.

He was the nineteenth century version of Rosa Parks,only his story didn't turn out so well.

JulieHowe · Oct 3, 2009

Without peeking on the internet - Plessy vs. Ferguson was a legal case that I think went all the way to the US Supreme Court. I believe that it paved the way for legal racial discrimination (i.e. the Jim Crow laws) by clarifying that 'separate but equal' was just fine.

Dicentra P · Oct 3, 2009

I do know but his history is more personally relevant to me.

Barb D · Oct 3, 2009

Thanks, everyone. I didn't know whether I hadn't heard of him because I live under a rock or if he really wasn't commonly known. I'm sorry to hear that his story is not very well known.

He was a 1/8th black man who challenged the Jim Crow laws in Louisiana by attempting to ride in a "whites only" train car. He took the case all the way to the Supreme Court, where he lost. According to the Supreme Court, as long as it was "separate but equal" racial discrimination was fine. Of course, nothing was equal.

I'm considering adding a Plessy-like incident to my WIP.

Wayne K · Oct 3, 2009

Couldn't they have declared that he wasn't Criminally Black?

I can't believe some of the shit that's been done in history. but It does make me happy for how far we've come. I'd love to the one to go to hell and tell them.

And a pox on their souls for the hate and hurt caused by their decision.

Barb D · Oct 3, 2009

Wayne K said:
It does make me happy for how far we've come.

It's hard to believe that this was going on just a hundred years ago -- a blip on the historical radar. And segregation of course went on much longer than that.

Smish · Oct 3, 2009

Do you mean Homer Plessy (not Plessey)?

If so, yes, I know quite a lot. But only because I went to law school.

However, my mother is a US history teacher now (she went back to college after all of her bratty kids were out of the house

), and she covers Plessy v. Ferguson in her classes. I don't think it was covered when I was in high school.

Smish

blacbird · Oct 3, 2009

No.

That's the short answer. The long answer is:

Nope.

caw

ChristineR · Oct 4, 2009

At first I was like, "Damn! I know that name." When I googled it, I said "Of course, that guy." We did study it in high school.

Barb D · Oct 9, 2009

Thank you, everyone. I did decide to include a reference to him in my WIP. There's an excerpt on the Historical SYW board:

http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?p=4129715#post4129715

Clair Dickson · Oct 9, 2009

My vote may not count... I'm a teacher of US History.

Apsu · Oct 9, 2009

Without looking at replies, I'm going to say: Plessey vs Ferguson.

Do I win?

ETA, I guess not, now that I see I have his name misspelled, and others got there first.

MsGneiss · Oct 9, 2009

Yes, I remember Plessy v Ferguson from my 9th grade Constitutional Law class, although the details escape me. I think the case is pretty standard in most US History textbooks.

benbradley · Oct 9, 2009

Barb D said:
Thank you, everyone. I did decide to include a reference to him in my WIP. There's an excerpt on the Historical SYW board:

http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?p=4129715#post4129715

I've sure heard of Homer Plessy now...

geardrops · Oct 9, 2009

I only did research to double-check that I was right

Didn't want to find out "Oh crap, there's another Plessy?"

Then again, I wouldn't rate him or what he was involved in as "common knowledge." Even if you give the name of the case. At least not here in the states.

(I did very well in my AP histories

)

No research allowed -- have you ever heard of Homer Plessey?

Who was Homer Plessey and what did he do?

Never heard of him.

Heard the name, but no idea what he did.

Know who he was and vaguely what issue he was involved in.

Know who he was, what he did, and maybe even when.

I could write an essay about Homer Plessey right now.

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