Homer Plessy
This celebrity goo was created by player Samir Mehta.
Scott Hardie provided the gooed image, category, and difficulty, made minor changes to the clue provided by Samir, and wrote the explanation.
publication date: Wednesday, April 22, 2015 (part of Spring 2015)
category: Humanitarianism
clue: Even though 87.5% of him could ride anywhere he wanted, it was the other 12.5% that he was fighting for. Sadly, the 12.5% was doomed for years. His life could have made a good follow-up to The Odyssey—someone should tell Homer.
explanation: Plessy was a 1/8-black civil rights advocate who challenged the racist segregation laws of 1890s Louisiana by passing as white and riding in whites-only cars. His defeat at the U.S. Supreme Court in Plessy v. Ferguson established "separate but equal" for decades to come. more…
intended difficulty: hard
solved by: Russ Wilhelm, Steve West, LaVonne Lemler, Chris Lemler, Justin Woods, and Joanna Woods
trivia: The source image appeared on various websites attributed to both Plessy and former Louisiana governor Pinckney Pinchback. Per the rules of the game, Scott disallowed the guesses for Pinchback.