Plessy Post Prompt

Justin Harlan was the only supreme court judge that disagreed with the other justices on their decision against the Plessy v. Ferguson trial. Many have wondered why he even bothered putting his name out for the nation to see that he did not agree with his fellow justices decision. I believe he wrote his dissent in order to start the process of destroying the mindset of separate but equal. He states that "if a white man and a black man choose to occupy the same public conveyance on a public highway, it is their right to do so, and no government, proceeding alone on grounds of race, can prevent it without infringing the personal liberty of each". This is a powerful statement that shows that Justice Harlan believed that blacks and whites needed to have the opportunity to interact with each other and build relationships or everything that was done post civil war was for nothing.

I believe Justin Harlan makes a good argument by using powerful statements such as "Our Constitution is color-blind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens" and presenting facts from the law that support that separate but equal is unconstitutional. I think that many people in 1896 would have been angered by theses statements in the south due to their heritage and stubborn mindsets at the time. I think the majority of people are happy that separate but equal is no longer a law in this day and age. The world would look much different nowadays if we still had separate but equal public facilities.

Justin Harlan in my opinion started the path of the law that we now see today and helped shed light on the civil rights movement and why it was so important. It showed Americans that people in power like Justin Harlan were not all entirely in favor with what was going on across the nation.