Republicans opposed "separate but equal" (Plessey vs. Ferguson)

GRAND OLD PARTISAN, 5/18/2009 (Michael Zak) - On this day in 1896, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Plessey v. Ferguson, declaring "separate but equal" to be constitutional. Dissenting from this infamous decision was Justice John Marshall Harlan, who wrote:

"Our Constitution is color-blind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens."

As a constitutional term, the term "color-blind" had been coined by Albion Tourgee, the Republican civil rights attorney for the African-American plaintiff, Homer Plessey. Tourgee co-founded the North Carolina Republican Party and won renown for battling against the Ku Klux Klan.

After commanding a regiment during the Civil War, Harlan was elected Attorney General of Kentucky in 1863. Running on the Republican ticket, he lost two races for Governor before President Rutherford Hayes (R-OH) appointed him to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1877. President Eisenhower appointed his grandson, John Harlan II, to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1955.

Michael Zak's message is that Republicans today would benefit tremendously from appreciating the heritage of our Grand Old Party. He is a popular speaker to Republican organizations around the nation and author of Back to Basics for the Republican Party, the acclaimed history of the GOP from the Republican point of view. See www.RepublicanBasics.com for more information.