Two-Tiered Pluralism Model

Can separate really be equal? The landmark cases Plessy v. Ferguson and Brown v. Board of Education show two sides of an argument that changes the way many people see things today. The Plessy v. Ferguson case set the precedent that segregation was legal when Homer Plessy was convicted for sitting in the white compartment of a train. The Brown v. Board of Education case tore down this precedent when it started the desegregation of schools after two girls had a dangerous walk to their all blacks school everyday. These two cases changed court precedents greatly, one setting a precedent, and the other tearing it down.

Although the roots of this movement date as far back as the 1900s, the legacy of the African American’s role in World War II sparked the catalyst needed to promote the legislation that eventually led to their equality. “On May 17, 1954, The Supreme Court announced its decision in the case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka” (Brinkley 772). This regulation overturned the Supreme Court’s earlier decision in the Plessy V Ferguson case. The separate but equal doctrine was a prime example of domestic policy that did not uphold the government’s constitutional promise to promote the general welfare of society-to include all that fall under the definition of an American citizen. The affliction put on children who had to travel to segregated public schools placed an unequal burden and damage done to those who it pertained to.

Ferguson was a court case that arose in Louisiana, and it created a drastically different atmosphere in 1896. This court case gave state laws that required black and white people to use separate facilities. The case came into light when Homer Plessy, an African-American, never moved to the “colored only” section on a train. Plessy was said to have had his Fourteenth Amendment violated because the separated facilities were discriminating; however the Court stated that the separate facilities were separate yet equal. Separate yet equal means that people have the same rights, but are separated by their race, religion, and wealth.

“What can more certainly arouse race hate, what more certainly create and perpetuate a feeling of distrust between these races, than state enactments which, in fact, proceed on the ground that colored citizens are so inferior and degraded that they cannot be allowed to sit in public coaches occupied by white citizens?”- John Marshall Harlan. On May 18, 1896, the Supreme court passed the separate but equal act on a vote of 7-1. This allowed separate facilities to be made for whites and blacks. This was the result of the Plessy vs Ferguson case, where a man was forced out of a whites-only car because he had African descent. The Supreme court couldn’t find any differences in the train cars, yet separate facilities for blacks had a decrease in quality.

Institutionalized discrimination refers to the unfair, indirect treatment of certain members within a group. Usually, the bias targets specific, easily stereotyped and generalize attributes, such as race, gender, nationality, sexual orientation, and age. Although the United State law forbids direct discrimination and it’s illegal, countless academics, activists, and advocacy organizations assert that as far as they are concerned, indirect discrimination is still persistent and ongoing in the vast majority of our social institutions and as well in our daily social practices. Such institutionalized discrimination includes laws and decisions that reflect racism, for example, the 1896 case between Plessey vs. Ferguson. The case that was ruled in favor of the “separate but equal" public facilities between African Americans and non-African Americans by the U.S. Supreme Court, however, the ruling was rescinded by the Brown vs. Board of Education Supreme Court decision in 1954.

Everyday the future in America looks brighter for the issues dealing with race and identity. Brave souls are not letting racism, class discrimination, or sexism hold them back anymore. Furthermore, the fight for a balanced society that pushes for equality is on the horizon. As we close on an era, based on purely the skin of the person, we need to analyze the impacts of the Ethnicity paradigm and Class paradigm on politics of the 20th century. Race and Ethnicity are used interchangeable in everyday conversation, however; they are not the same.

This case, which concerned racial segregation laws for public facilities such as restrooms, restaurants, and water fountains, made its way all the way to the Supreme Court. As way of background, in 1890 Louisiana passed a law which required blacks and whites to ride in separate train cars. However, in 1892, Homer A. Plessy, who was a black man, boarded a car designated for whites only. He was asked to leave, but refused and was arrested immediately. In the case, Plessy vs Ferguson, Plessy’s position was that his rights were violated under the 13th and 14th amendments of the Constitution, which dictated equal treatment under the law.

As immigration and relations between races become more influential issues in politics, there have been many opposing views on the treatment of minority groups. Some people believe that diversity and immigration is a threat to original identity while others believe that they are extremely beneficial to society. Writers Samuel P. Huntington in The Hispanic Challenge and Herbert Marcuse in Repressive Tolerance express these differing views regarding these important topics. Huntington takes the ‘threat to identity’ side when explaining how Mexican immigration is extremely different from European immigration. On the other hand, Marcuse takes a different route when explaining the idea of tolerance, claiming that majority groups who oppress the minority

The ability for people to look at a situation from a different perspective is vital in today’s globalized society. Diversity is the most important, core attribute we each share that gives us the ability to assess new situations through our diverse backgrounds and upbringings. Unlike Patrick J. Buchanan’s argument in his essay titled “Deconstructing America,” diversity is a necessity in America’s culture as opposed to the burden it is described as. Conversely, Fredrickson 's essay titled “Models of American Ethnic Relations: A Historical Perspective,” illustrated a more precise version of American history that disproves Buchanan’s ethnocentric ideologies. Buchanan speaks of diversity on a narrow, one-way street.

David Brook's essay focuses in the main part about the discussions and conversations on race, which is aimed to lead the readers to contemplate the assumptions we take for granted such as the critical question of is diversity a cared for subject in the United States?” Intro :- The occasion that gives rise to David Brook's essay “People Like Us”, is diversity in America. In his essay , David plainly and purposely confronts his audience – which are most likely Americans- with the reality of diversity in The United States .

Do we only care about diversity in America when we’re amongst people of different races? In David Brooks, “People Like Us,” he explores this taboo topic, originally published in the issue of the Atlantic Monthly, 2003. In the first few sentences of the essay he states that perhaps there is somewhere in the United States that there is a really an area where people are diverse (62). But then again he has not ever been made aware of such an area.

For nearly a century, the United States was occupied by the racial segregation of black and white people. The constitutionality of this “separation of humans into racial or other ethnic groups in daily life” had not been decided until a deliberate provocation to the law was made. The goal of this test was to have a mulatto, someone of mixed blood, defy the segregated train car law and raise a dispute on the fairness of being categorized as colored or not. This test went down in history as Plessy v. Ferguson, a planned challenge to the law during a period ruled by Jim Crow laws and the idea of “separate but equal” without equality for African Americans. This challenge forced the Supreme Court to rule on the constitutionality of segregation, and in result of the case, caused the nation to have split opinions of support and

The landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court in 1896, upheld public segregation based on the color of one’s skin, is known as Plessy v. Ferguson ​ . The decision by the justices on the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of separate but equal facilities based on race ​ .​ The practice of segregation based on race stayed in effect for over sixty years until it was overturned in 1954 by the Supreme Court decision in

The South, home to most African Americans in that time, sought out ways to legally exclude African Americans. Homer Plessy had decided to test new segregation laws that had been passed a year earlier. A few months prior, Daniel Desdunes had also sat in the whites-only section, and his case had never made it to trial. However, in Plessy’s case, the Supreme Court was able to rule the new laws constitutional in a seven to one decision; “separate but equal” would be completely legal if both sections are equal.

In the case of Strauder v. West Virginia, an African American man challenged the state’s law that only whites could serve in jury duty, saying that it was unconstitutional to the 14th Amendment, but the court ruled that states could choose to exclude any person from serving on a jury, even if that reason was simply because they were not white (Strauder v. West Virginia). From this decision, it is clear that, even after the passing of the 14th Amendment, many, if not most court judges thought that African Americans were inferior, intellectually and morally, to white men, and still held that equal participation in the government should not be possible. The denial of African Americans from serving their country, through their local courts, in the same capacity as white people was a chief reason for the continual contention that was had with state governments, especially those that were disinclined to allow civil rights to African Americans, and court appeals for violation of rights seemed to be the most effective way to induce the equality of the races, or at least to make people aware of the social injustice. One of the most famous examples of the push against discrimination was the landmark Brown v. the Board of Education, a consolidation of four cases from four states against the state government for the laws against African Americans children from attending “whites only” schools violating the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment (Brown v. Board of Education). The idea of schools that educate students of different races was not a frontrunning issue in America’s sociopolitical eye until the eve of the Civil Rights Movement, and although the Fourteenth Amendment protects the rights of American citizens to enjoy equal institutions, the