Existing comment:
Discrimination on the Railroads:
"Filthy and Inadequate"
In this 1908 letter, President Theodore Roosevelt informed the Justice Department that the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway Company was violating an Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) order to provide separate but equal accommodations to African-Americans. Roosevelt said that "accommodations furnished to colored persons... are filthy and inadequate" and directed the Justice Department to enforce the ICC order. William Chappelle, an editor for the African Methodist Episcopal Church, congratulated President Roosevelt for his action. |