Dissent in Plessy V. Ferguson (1896)

question 3

Multiple Choice

Dissent in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
John Marshall Harlan
. . . I deny that any legislative body or judicial tribunal may have regard to the race of citizens when the civil rights of those citizens are involved. . . .
Every one knows that the statute in question had its origin in the purpose, not so much to exclude white persons from railroad cars occupied by blacks, as to exclude colored people from coaches occupied by or assigned to white persons. . . . The fundamental objection, therefore, to the statute is that it interferes with the personal freedom of citizens. . . .
The white race deems itself to be the dominant race in this country. And so it is, in prestige, in achievements, in education, in wealth, and in power. So, I doubt not, it will continue to be for all time, if it remains true to its great heritage and holds fast to the principles of constitutional liberty. But in view of the Constitution, in the eye of the law, there is in this country no superior, dominant, ruling class of citizens. . . . Our Constitution is color-blind and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens. In respect of civil rights, all citizens are equal before the law. . . . The law regards man as man and takes no account of his surroundings or of his color when his civil rights as guaranteed by the supreme law of the land are involved
-The question in Plessy v. Ferguson was largely based on the rights granted in the

• A) First Amendment.
• B) Emancipation Proclamation.
• C) Fourteenth Amendment.
• D) National Origins Act.

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Definitions:

Cohesiveness

The quality of sticking together tightly; in a social context, it refers to the bonds that hold a group of people or components of a structure together.

Osmotic Equilibrium

A state where the concentration of solutes is equal across a semipermeable membrane, allowing equal movement of water in both directions.

Hydrophobic

Lacking an attraction to water, possessed by nonpolar molecules; the opposite of hydrophilic.

Lipid

A group of naturally occurring molecules that include fats, waxes, sterols, fat-soluble vitamins, and others, which are crucial for cell structure and metabolism.