Interpretations of Social Distinctions Based on Race Under the 14th Amendment
Text Version

[Visual Description - image of Justice Henry Brown] What did Justice Brown say about social distinctions based on race when he wrote the majority opinion in Plessy v. Ferguson?

He explicitly stated that the Fourteenth Amendment, “could not have been intended to abolish distinctions based on color, or to enforce social equality.”

Justice Brown believed that the Fourteenth Amendment was never intended to abolish social distinctions based on race.

[Visual Description - image of Justice Earl Warren] Now let’s look at Justice Warren’s view in Brown v. Board of Education.

He stated: “ To separate them [children in grade and high schools] from others of similar age and qualifications solely because of their race generates a feeling of inferiority as to their status in the community… Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal”.