 
| Sender: |
|
| Date: |
Fri, 21 Nov 2008 09:53:57 -0600 |
| Content-Disposition: |
inline |
| Reply-To: |
|
| Subject: |
|
| MIME-Version: |
1.0 |
| Content-Transfer-Encoding: |
7bit |
| In-Reply-To: |
|
| Content-Type: |
text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 |
| From: |
|
| Parts/Attachments: |
|
|
speaking of miscegenation:--
these discussions always remind me of one of my favorite all-time books in
our field, TO WAKE THE NATIONS by Eric Sundquist, and the material there on
Plessy vs. Ferguson:
On June 7, 1892, Homer Plessy boarded a car of the East Louisiana Railroad
that was designated by whites for use by white patrons only. Although Plessy
was one-eighth black and seven-eighths white, under Louisiana state law he
was classified as an African-American, and thus required to sit in the
"colored" car.
The shameless supreme court voted 7-1 that this logic was fine with them.
As Sundquist argues, this and other similar incidents are certainly on
Twain's mind around the time of composing his tale.
Harold K. Bush, Ph.D
St. Louis, MO 63108
|
|
|
