as justice john marshall harlan pointed out in his stunning descent the supreme court chose to ignore reality. they ignored the violence the paralyzing effects of racism on both the victims and american democracy that separate is never equal and the fact that the constitution is color blind. there was a more subtle yet equally devastating form of inequality exclusion. pretending that women blacks chinese hispanics jews at all were never part of american history is a deeply harmful form of inequality for century after the civil war historians ignored these groups and wrote almost entirely about white men for instance 270,000 black troops fought for the union during a civil war. i just finished a search of dozens of history textbooks published between 1880 and 1950 and cannot find a single one that mentions this essential fact. my own high school textbook the growth of the american republic written by the prominent historians samuel morrison and henry calmenter had a two-page section out of 830 pages on slavery that began and i am quoting it as for sambo who's wrongs moved the abolition

justice john marshall harlan who had been a slave owner before the civil war.he is the voice of civil rights. he understands racism, he understands that creation, he understands african americans are just as entitled to constitutional rights as everybody else. but he is a lone voice, sometimes he gets to read three justices to join him for this entire period. and it will only be after the beginning of world war i that we begin to get what will become, by the 19 forties, and fifties, the second reconstruction and constitutional law. thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you very much, i am very pleased to be here. and i would like to express my gratitude. it is wonderful gathering. a wonderful contribution to public education. i'm going to focus our attention for a few minutes on the long reach of the civil rights cases. first, civil rights cases were a set of cases decided in 1883 in which the supreme court of the united states invalidated very important parts of the civil rights act of 1875. in a minutes i will turn to the case and we will walk through the

the lone dissenter, john marshall harlan.sy, like ferguson, was in the dark about his ancestors. >> i never knew that i was related to him. >> you don't read about it in elementary school? >> one paragraph in the history book. >> phoebe, how did you find out about this? >> well, i just got a call one day. this gentleman had purchased my great, great grandfather's house on henry clay. and he wanted to restore it. he's saying, you know,ouatat gr house, the judge in sy fe. i did not know that. >> knowing, she says, got her and plessy on a mission tontrodr keith weldon medley, they created the plessy and ferguson foundation. >> we want to tell the truth about history and bring out all the facts that were hidden. >> i think it's our responsibility. that's how we look at it. we want people to understand what legacy is and not to wait until the end of your life to understand legacy, but to understand legacy at an early age. >> do you ever think what if the ruling had been different? >> well, i think america had a chance to mend itse

john marshall harlan and the johnson democrat appointee was samuel.should we know about this court? >> as a whole and civil rights cases, the court was fairly consistent that congress lacked the power to provide initial protection for the friedman. that case was one dissenter john -- he said that lost discriminating and private businesses discriminating against the friedman -- he thought the 13th and 14th amendment prohibited this form of racial segregation against african americans. notice justice harlan did not dissent, i'm sorry he did not write it in separately in yick wo. a few years later plessy ferguson, he dissented arguing that exclusionary laws separate but equal is unconstitutional and a very famous part of his opinion saying while we're able to give protection for the friedman, there is a race different than ours. that is chinese people. heartland, who is very much progressive with respect to equality for african americans did not seem to feel quite the same way about chinese people. on this court, there was not much of a friend for racial