Chester A. Arthur Part II

In 1854, more than 100 years before Rosa Parks heroically refused to give up her seat on public transportation, Elizabeth Jennings in New York City did. At that time, all African Americans were expected to walk to their place of employment, church, or wherever they wanted to go. Some public transportation would “allow” African Americans to ride, but they almost always posted a sign saying African Americans could ride, but that hurt their white ridership. 

Ms. Jennings, an African American 24 year old school teacher, was on her way to church and boarded a horsecar. The white conductor ordered her off, she refused, he attempted to physically remove her, she resisted, and finally, with a policeman, they got her off. Sometime thereafter, Ms. Jennings sued the driver, the conductor, and the company. 

Elizabeth Jennings prevailed and the landmark decision allowed all NYC residents to ride any public transportation in the city. It wasn’t until 1873, twenty years later, that segregation laws in NYC were abolished. No one likes our original sin, but those with courage can acknowledge difficult truths, not be a snowflake, then based on that knowledge, do better. 

Even though things were changing for the better, there was still a lot of built in bigotry that made it difficult to upset those societal norms. It took a great deal of courage for Elizabeth Jennings to refuse to leave the horsecar.  It also took a great deal of courage to bring her case to the courts. And that’s where my newfound respect comes: The lawyer who represented Ms. Jennings was 24 year old Chester A. Arthur.