Segragation and the 14th amendment

Plessy V. Ferguson (1896)

case question: whether the statute of Louisiana is a reasonable regulation and with respect to this there must necessarily be a large discretion on the part of the legislature

majority opinion, the legislature is at liberty to act w/ reference to what?to the established usages, and customs and traditions of people, and with a view to the promotion of their comfort, and the preservation of the public peace and good order 

law violate 14th amendment? yes. other laws does the court cite as being unquestioned and similar in outcome? consider underlying fallacy of the plaintiffs argument to consist in the assumption that the enforced separation of two races stamps the cored race with a badge of inferiority. 

court says legislation cannot do? powerless to eradicate racial instincts or to abolish distinctions based upon physical differences, and the attempt to do so can only result in accentuating the difficulties of the present situation.

dissent, justice Harlan say about the constitutions attitude towards race? white race DEEMS to be the dominant race BUT eye of the constitution is colorblind

Element	Description
Fact	Homer Plessy (⅛ Black) arrested for sitting in a whites-only train car in Louisiana.
Issue	Does state-mandated racial segregation violate the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause?
Holding	No — segregation is constitutional if facilities are “separate but equal.”
Reasoning (Majority)	Segregation doesn’t imply inferiority; 14th Amendment ensures legal, not social, equality.
Reasoning (Dissent – Harlan)	The Constitution is color-blind; segregation creates inequality and violates equal protection.

Brown V. Board of Edu. (1954)

clause of the 14th amendment is at issue?equal protection

historical practice of public edu. inform our understanding of how the amendment be applied today?evolved, requiring modern interpretation

court says is the effect of segregation on public edu? how does the court account for the ‘tangible’ factors?if equal seg in schools made inherently unequal

act	African American parents sued over segregated public schools (e.g., Linda Brown in Topeka, KS).

Issue

Does segregation in public schools violate the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause?

Holding

Yes — “Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.”

Reasoning

Segregation harms children, denies equal opportunity, and violates equal protection. The Court overturned Plessy v. Ferguson.

Dates

1787 / 1789 

northwest ordinance outlawed slavery 

1808

importation banned

1820

missouri compromise 

1850

fugitive slave act

1854

Kansas Nebraska act undid missouri compromise

1857

Dred Scott V. Sanford