Whose dissent in Plessy v. Ferguson argued for equal protection and would pave the way for Brown v. Board of Education?

Whose dissent in Plessy v. Ferguson argued for equal protection and would pave the way for Brown v. Board of Education?

• A. Justice John Marshall Harlan
• B. Justice Thurgood Marshall
• C. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes
• D. Justice Earl Warren

Answer: (A)

The main idea here is recognizing how a dissent can plant the seeds for future constitutional change. In Plessy v. Ferguson, Justice John Marshall Harlan argued that the Fourteenth Amendment's equal protection clause requires treating people equally under the law, and he warned that the Constitution is color‑blind. He rejected the idea that separating people by race could ever be truly equal, showing that “separate but equal” is incompatible with equal protection. That line of reasoning provided a powerful constitutional critique of segregation and helped shape the strategy and reasoning later used to strike down segregation in Brown v. Board of Education. The other justices mentioned are tied to different roles or moments in civil rights history and did not author that influential dissent.

The main idea here is recognizing how a dissent can plant the seeds for future constitutional change. In Plessy v. Ferguson, Justice John Marshall Harlan argued that the Fourteenth Amendment's equal protection clause requires treating people equally under the law, and he warned that the Constitution is color‑blind. He rejected the idea that separating people by race could ever be truly equal, showing that “separate but equal” is incompatible with equal protection. That line of reasoning provided a powerful constitutional critique of segregation and helped shape the strategy and reasoning later used to strike down segregation in Brown v. Board of Education. The other justices mentioned are tied to different roles or moments in civil rights history and did not author that influential dissent.