After slavery ended, laws in the United States continued to separate, or segrate, African American people from the rest of American society. In the late 1800s, national and community leaders denied African Americans their rights as citizens of the United States. Many white leaders and employers attempted to return African Americans to the conditions of slavery. It became dangerous, even impossible, for a person of color to travel freely or cast a vote safely.

Separating people by the color of their skin became an American tradition. Unfortunately, segregation was a practice that denied some Americans of their civil rights and their human rights.

In 1890, Louisiana law segregated railroad travel in the state. The law forced African American people to sit in separate, segregated railway cars. African Americans resisted this law, however. In New Orleans, an African American shoemaker named Homer Plessy was told to give up his seat on a train. He refused. His resistance led to a number of court cases. By 1896, the legal argument went to the United States Supreme Court. The court ruled that segregation was legal under the U.S. Constitution. In a court ruling called "Plessy vs. Ferguson" the United States Supreme Court allowed states to have "separate but equal" education, transportation, and other services for whites and for people of color. However, this court ruling did not create "separate but equal" parts of society. Instead, it legalized segregation but did not protect equal rights. By the 1950s, buses had become one of the places where African Americans protested their civil rights. The famous case of Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott came from a long history of African American struggle for equal rights in public transportation, as well as other areas of life.

In the 1890s, African American people were protesting their treatment on public transportation, such as railroads and streetcars. Ironically, railroads and associated companies like the Pullman Car Company became a major employer of African American people after slavery ended. A black union in the railroad industry, such as the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, is one example.

The story of railroad porters is an important chapter in the history of railroads and the American West. The construction of railroads encouraged large numbers of people to settle in the West. Many of the newcomers were African Americans. Between 1880 and 1900, the number of blacks in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana increased from about 1,200 to more than 5,400.1

African Americans were denied access to high-quality jobs. However, they were able to find work in the "service sector" - in restaurants, hotels and on the railroads. Railroad companies barred people of color from holding high-quality jobs. Inventor Elijah McCoy is one example. McCoy was a descendent of Kentucky slaves who had escaped to Canada with the aid of the Underground Railroad. When he was a child, his family returned to Michigan. He studied as an engineer in Scotland but was only able to work as a locomotive fireman upon returning to the United States despite being issued over 57 patents for his inventions. The phrase, "the real McCoy," was created by machine buyers who insisted on purchasing only products designed by the inventor. His name is still associated with authenticity. 2

For the most part, conductors, engineers, managers and cooks were all white. Blacks were allowed to apply for jobs as porters, dining room attendants, kitchen help and freight handlers. Companies hired African American women as maids and kitchen help. Through their hiring practices, the railroads created "one of the most highly institutionalized forms of industrial segregation in the land."3

It would be a mistake, however, to look only at the difficult part of a porter’s life. Railroad jobs did enable tens of thousands of African Americans to earn a steady income. This enabled them to improve the economy of their communities. In addition, porters had opportunities to travel, wear formal uniforms and meet famous people. For African Americans, portering and other service jobs were seen as an improvement over sharecropping, one of the few other opportunities open to blacks at the time.