"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... But in view of the Constitution, in the eye of the law, there is in this country no superior, dominant, ruling class of citizens. There is no caste here. Our Constitution is color-blind." — Justice John Marshall Harlan, dissent in Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896
Harlan's dissent rests primarily on which constitutional principle?
- Acheck_circle
Equal protection of the laws regardless of race
- B
The Tenth Amendment's reservation of powers to the states
- C
Federal supremacy over state commerce regulation
- D
The privileges and immunities of state citizenship
Explanation
Harlan invokes a "color-blind" Constitution, arguing that legally enforced racial classifications violate the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause regardless of whether facilities are nominally equal.