Thread by @erosen1

1/3 #BLM OTD 1937 IL congressman Arthur Wergs Mitchell was told to move to the section of the train for Black passengers in accordance w/ the Arkansas Separate Coach Law of 1891. Under threat of arrest he moved & later filed a lawsuit.
#BlackAmericanHistoryIsAmericanHistory

2/3 The ICC dismissed the suit stating “the discrimination & prejudice was not unjust or undue.” He then lost an appeal which said “the small number of colored passengers asking for 1st class accommodations justified an occasional discrimination against them because of race.”

3/3 Mitchell appealed that ruling directly to the US Supreme Court, where he presented oral arguments himself. SCOTUS ruled in his favor in Mitchell v. United States. However, his political career in Chicago was over because of having angered the white political establishment.