On April 28, 1941, Illinois Congressman Arthur Mitchell argued before the U.S. Supreme Court that African Americans were entitled to railroad accommodations equal to white passengers.
Born in 1883 in Alabama to formerly enslaved parents, Mitchell attended the Tuskegee Institute and worked his way through school as a farmer and in the office of Booker T. Washington. He later attended law school at Columbia University and Harvard before moving to Chicago, where he worked as a lawyer and entered politics. He was elected to Congress in 1934 as the nation's first African American Democratic congressman. Throughout his four terms, he was the only African American in Congress.
In 1937, Mitchell purchased first-class railroad accommodations from Chicago to Hot Springs, Ark. When the train crossed into Arkansas, the conductor told Mitchell to move to the "colored" car. Mitchell refused. The conductor cursed at him, used racial slurs and threatened him with arrest. Mitchell finally complied and found the "colored" car to be filthy, foul-smelling and poorly ventilated, with only one of the three toilets functioning. It was also used as the smoking car for both Blacks and whites.
When Mitchell returned to Chicago, he filed suit against the railroads for discrimination, arguing it violated the Interstate Commerce Act. After multiple courts rejected the case, it reached the U.S. Supreme Court, where Mitchell argued the case himself. On April 28, 1941, the court ruled unanimously in his favor, confirming that the Interstate Commerce Act superseded state segregation laws and required equal accommodations for African Americans.
Although segregation on interstate trains did not end until 1955, Mitchell called his case a "step in the destruction of Mr. Jim Crow himself."
Despite the victory, Mitchell's crusade against racial injustice angered Chicago's white political establishment, which supported his rise to office. He chose not to seek re-election in 1942, knowing he could not retain his seat without their support. He later retired to Virginia, where he worked as a farmer and activist until his death in 1968.
Copy Edited by Eryn Lent
