Did you know there was a Civil Rights Act of 1875?

[pat_k]

The Civil Rights Act of 1875 was a law that guaranteed equal access to public accommodations like inns, transportation, and theaters for all citizens, regardless of race.

On October 15, 1883, the Supreme Court struck down the Civil Rights Act of 1875 in an 8-1 decision known as the Civil Rights Cases.

https://calendar.eji.org/racial-injustice/oct/15

Writing for the majority less than 20 years after the Thirteenth Amendment was ratified, Justice Joseph Bradley questioned the necessity and appropriateness of laws aimed at protecting Black people from discrimination:

"When a man has emerged from slavery, and, by the aid of beneficent legislation, has shaken off the inseparable concomitants of that state, there must be some stage in the progress of his elevation when he takes the rank of a mere citizen and ceases to be the special favorite of the laws, and when his rights as a citizen or a man are to be protected in the ordinary modes by which other men's rights are protected."
...
It would be more than 80 years before Congress tried again to outlaw discrimination by passing the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

[Silent Type]

1. Shame it was reversed. Maybe there wouldn't have been "White's Only," "Only Caucasians need apply," and

worse in the 1950s, not to mention segregated troops in WWII, segregated and unequal schools, and worse.

[appmanga]

2. Sadly, that quote...

"When a man has emerged from slavery, and, by the aid of beneficent legislation, has shaken off the inseparable concomitants of that state, there must be some stage in the progress of his elevation when he takes the rank of a mere citizen and ceases to be the special favorite of the laws, and when his rights as a citizen or a man are to be protected in the ordinary modes by which other men's rights are protected."

...could have come from the mouth of John Roberts. That was his rationale for overturning Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.

[pat_k]

4. That's what struck me. It was an abomination in 1883, and it was an abomination in 2013. (nt)

[intheflow]

5. Yes, I updated it in real time as I read it:

"When a man has emerged from slavery (When Obama was elected), and, by the aid of beneficent legislation (by the aid of affirmative action), has shaken off the inseparable concomitants of that state (his inherent Black skin), there must be some stage in the progress of his elevation when he takes the rank of a mere citizen and ceases to be the special favorite of the laws, and when his rights as a citizen or a man are to be protected in the ordinary modes by which other men's rights are protected (we declare that equal rights for all Black people has been achieved because one Black man achieved a level of power we wish for ourselves. Which, if we had it, we’d use it to enslave Black and brown people again. Obviously that means if more Black people gain power, they will enslave us, so we have to shut this shit down).”

[moondust]

6. Yep.

The black President was all the excuse Roberts needed to make a sweeping judgement pretending racism was a thing of the past.

Inside John Roberts’ Decades-Long Crusade Against the Voting Rights Act

[leftstreet]

3. DURec