Plessy v. Ferguson... Justice Harlan and His Dissenting Opinion

As I was sitting on the floor of my dorm reading Justice Harlan's dissenting opinion I couldn't help but think to myself, "Wow not only does this apply back then, but this applies today." Think about it; how many times are we told one thing, but presented another? Now relate that to the 14th amendment. The 14th Amendment granted blacks citizenship, and gave them equal protection under the law, meaning that the states can't treat them any differently. With that in mind, why did the states separate them? The blacks were told one thing, but presented another.

Justice Harlan was a smart man to write what he wrote. Not only was it powerful, but it was motivating and eyeopening. It brought to light issues that people turned a blind eye to. Justice Harlan refused to go with the norm of everyone else, and instead did his own thing. Now, I'm sure that people in 1896 didn't take too kindly to Harlan's opinion, and I'm sure that he got a whole lot of backlash for writing what he wrote, but hey look where we are now. Current day, 2016, is a whole lot different then back then. We are a generation full of a lot more acceptance and understanding. We're constantly moving towards new reforms and changes. I mean look how far we've come. We had the first black president, slavery is abolished, no more segregation, and we live in a free country protected by the Constitution.

Without people like Justice Harlan writing down their opinions, and saying that the current way of doing things isn't acceptable, then nothing was going to change. We can't be afraid to state our opinions because when we're afraid to state our opinions, than all were doing is saying that we accept every little thing that happens. We have the freedom of speech. Lets use that freedom of speech on issues that we feel are unjustified just like Justice Harlan did. You never know how powerful your words can be. Maybe years from now you could develop new laws and students like us will be reading you're dissenting opinions. Anything is possible. Use your voice, and lets move towards new reforms, Stick up for what's right just like Justice Harlan did in the Plessy v. Ferguson case.