Our Constitution is Color-Blind
A prominent theme of these letters is that—to inherit and pass on to the next generation the legacy of freedom bequeathed to us—Americans must understand and take to heart the idea of political freedom that has been at stake in all the great episodes of American history. Today is a fitting time to reflect on one of those episodes.
On June 7, 1892, Homer Plessy boarded a train in New Orleans bound for Covington, Louisiana. When the conductor saw his ticket, he demanded that he move. When Plessy wouldn’t, he was arrested, tried, convicted, and fined $25. His offense? Violating Louisiana's "Separate Car Act" by sitting in a "whites only" railroad car. Plessy and his supporters appealed the case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, claiming that Louisiana's "Jim Crow" law violated the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which prohibits a state from denying "equal protection of the laws" to any person within its jurisdiction. Congress had sent the 14th Amendment to the states for ratification on June 13, 1866,146 years ago today. Cont. Reading
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