History Commons^™

Attacking Jim Crow: Black Activism In New Orleans 1925-1941, Sharlene Sinegal Decuir

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

After the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson decision, blacks in the South lost most of the rights achieved during Reconstruction and for over half a century lived in a system defined by disfranchisement and segregation. Plessy promised a “separate but equal” society but by 1920 it was evident that separate was fulfilled but equal fell short in facilities. At about the same time, a three-tiered racial hierarchy, rooted in New Orleans long and distinctive racial history returned. New Orleans’ black community was split into two groups, American blacks and Creoles. The two groups rarely interacted. As the black community developed its …