plessy v ferguson
The following brief compares two Supreme Court decisions: Plessy v Ferguson and Brown v Board of Education. I will look specifically at American society and the political climate around the time each decision was rendered.In the decision Plessy v Ferguson (8-1) the precedent of "separate" facilities for blacks and whites was legal, as long as they were "equal". The highest court of the land presumed that "separation of individuals according to their race", was not discrimination.Unfortunately, over the 70-year period between the rulings of Plessy v Ferguson and Brown v Board of Education, American society did not live up to the decision of the court, "separate but equal". For example, colleges and universities continued to display prejudice against black students through lack of admittance or intimidation following admittance. Also,
Immediately following the Civil War, the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments were passed. Multiple times in the decision of Plessy v Ferguson Justice Brown used school segregation as a way to show it was appropriate to continue segregation via the railroads. African Americans opposed segregation and inequality and with their new voice brought justice with the hearing of Brown v Board of Education. " In the year 2004, politics and policies cannot eradicate racism. This places a disadvantage on those students or employees who would have been accepted based solely on their qualifications. The African American voice now was starting to be heard. During this period, Congress was working toward civil rights initiatives, however the Supreme Court used its "checks and balances" to make many of these laws ineffective through their interpretation and other cases setting precedence. For decades, slavery had been an acceptable way of life in the southern states. The political environment at the time of Plessy v Ferguson was the era following the Civil War. Only people can choose for themselves to be color-blind and accept people for who they are and what they have to offer. and other black citizens taking a stand for their American liberties afforded them through the Amendments to the Constitution. Racist opinions of the whites would not change easily in Louisiana or other states overnight. Legislative means alone cannot rectify racism. This is observable by recent affirmative action programs which seek to assist minorities. However, these programs tend to create a reverse discrimination process, by not admitting qualified white, or majority, applicants.
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