Plessy V Ferguson Analysis

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Throughout the course of American history, what the majority considers tasteful, proper, and acceptable has had a complicated relationship with the rights of minorities. Often the majority thinks minorities derserve less rights than they themselves have, or have some entrenched belief of superiority that causes them to see an uneven situation as fair. The Supreme Court has had a powerful hand in many of these issues, such as segregation, racism, and homophobia. Decisions handed down by the Supreme Court had and continue to have the ability to shape the very fabric of the nation, in favor either of balance or injustice. The Supreme Court is tasked with upholding the constitution, which ultimately stands to protect citizens of the United States …show more content…
In 1896, the iconic case Plessy v. Ferguson declared that racial segregation laws were constitutional and set the precedent for the doctrine of “separate but equal”, which in modern times would be considered a barbaric social stance, especially considering the inherent inferiority of the “equal” facilities and resources that were available to minorities. At the time however, the majority of people who carried any sort of weight with their opinion were in favor of segregation as white supremacy was rampant. From a modern standpoint it can be clearly seen that this ruling was disadvantagious for both minorities and the country as a whole, and that it caused nothing but damage in the form of protecting racism under the guise of the consitution. The Supreme Court eventually overturned this precedent after 58 years, but the decision of seven to one shows that the bias of the majority opinion can easily bleed into the court, causing detrimental verdicts and hindering the protection of minority rights. Plessy v. Ferguson is an excellent example of the Supreme Court being a reflection of the time period that it exists in. While much of the constitution has remained unchanged, the mentalities of the Supreme Court justices are susceptible to outside influences, causing the verdicts to seem to shift dramatically despite the use of the same documents as justification. Similar cases began to have polar opposite …show more content…
Ferguson in the case of Brown v. Board of Education, which occurred in 1954 . It was declared unanimously therein that separate but equal is an inherently flawed idea, that it is impossible for separate to truly be equal, and therefore, is a form of discrimination against those being segregated that cannot be protected by the consitution. The state regulated segregation that was allowed under the precedent of Plessy v. Ferguson was declared unconstitutional, reversing the original decision and leading to a need for new legislation. While the revelation that limiting minorities to the use of worse facilities than the majority simply due to the prejudice of those who have more money and authority is neither moral nor justifiable would not be considered shocking today, it was groundbreaking at the time the verdict was made. As stated previously, the decision was unanimous, with a vote of 9-0. While the original verdict would have been the same, special precautions were taken to convince the justices who would have dissented to go along with the majority in order to help stifle counter-arguments of the heavy resistance to desegregation. The ruling was still met with uproar and resistance, especially in the southern states. For example, in Arkansas, the governor ordered his states’ national guard to not allow black students into a school in Little Rock. President Eisenhower got involved and resolved that particular
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