ABSTRACT
More than a century ago, Associate Justice John Marshall Harlan stood alone on behalf of racial equality in the infamous case of Plessy v. Ferguson (1896). Justice Harlan reminded his colleagues that “in view of the Constitution, in the eye of the law, there is in this county no superior, dominant, ruling class of citizens. There is no cast here. Our Constitution is color-blind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens.” Tragically, Justice Harlan was on the wrong end of an 8 to 1 majority that found in favor of Louisiana’s right, and that of other states (i.e., states’ rights), to separate blacks and whites in public places. Justice Harlan’s claim that the Constitution was meant to be color-blind was rejected by his colleagues.
