Trump v. Barbara · ¶122

Putting a finer point on this: When colonizationists objected to changing their norms to accommodate the equal citizenship and rights of freedmen, freed Blacks and their allies organized to push for a Constitution that would bring their own antisubordination vision to fruition. See supra, 7–10. That kind of ambitious transformation—nothing less than the remaking of the soul of a Nation beset by rank, entrenched race-based prejudice and inequity—did not come for free, or purely by the say-so of those who claimed to be “color-blind.” It required heavy lifting, a fundamental shift—the very thing for which the Fourteenth Amendment stands: a repudiation of the notion that there is a “superior, dominant, ruling class of citizens,” Plessy, 163 U. S., at 559 (Harlan, J., dissenting), and a willingness to see, and strive to eliminate, all remaining vestiges of historical subjugation.

slip opinion, revised 7/01/26
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