Page:Race distinctions in American Law (IA racedistinctions00stepiala).pdf/51

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by two of the leaders on opposite sides of the question of slavery, Abraham Lincoln and A. H. Stephens."[9]

The following is a recent case arising in Kentucky, in which it was held that it is not slander per se to call a white person a Negro: A white woman entered a coach set apart for white people. The passengers therein complained that she was a Negro, and the brakeman, on hearing their remarks, asked her to go into the next coach. When, upon reaching the other coach, she found that it was set apart for Negroes, she left the train, which had not yet started from the station. She met the conductor, who, upon hearing her explanation, permitted her to go her journey in the white coach. Later, she brought suit against the railroad company and recovered a judgment for four thousand dollars. Upon appeal, the judgment of the lower court was reversed, the higher court saying: "What race a person belongs to cannot always be determined infallibly from appearances, and mistake must inevitably be made. When a mistake is made, the carrier is not liable in damages simply because a white person was taken for a Negro, or vice versa. It is not a legal injury for a white person to be taken for a Negro. It was not contemplated by the statute that the carrier should be an insurer as to the race of its passengers. The carrier is bound to exercise ordinary care in the matter, but if it exercises ordinary care, and is not insulting to the passenger, it is not liable for damages."[10]

Probably the most recent case on the subject is one which arose about two years ago in Virginia. A certain Mrs. Stone boarded a train at Myrtle, Virginia. In spite of her protests, the conductor compelled her to go into