Free Republic

PLESSY v. FERGUSON, 163 U.S. 537 (1896) May 18, 1896. This was a petition for writs of prohibition and certiorari originally filed in the supreme court of the state by Plessy, the plaintiff in error, against the Hon. John H. Ferguson, judge of the criminal district court for the parish of Orleans, and setting forth, in substance, the following facts: That petitioner was a citizen of the United States and a resident of the state of Louisiana, of mixed descent, in the proportion of seven-eighths Caucasian and one-eighth African blood; that the mixture of colored blood was not discernible in...

Analysis of an almost-150-year-old U.S. Supreme Court decision — the Dred Scott case — is important because it helps answer a contemporary question, said Harvard law professor Randall Kennedy: "Why are black people so angry?" Part of the answer is the racism inherent in the foundation of our government, he said, and it's not a historical artifact. "Do we still live in a pigmentocracy? Yeah, we live in a pigmentocracy," Kennedy said Thursday night. "Until it is a (case) that one can read and feel that it is repudiated, it will continue to have . . . a certain potency."...

SENTINEL STAFF REPORT May 20, 2003 UCSC graduation ceremonies planned Sentinel staff report SANTA CRUZ — The president of Affymetrix, the company that pioneered genechip technology, will join politicians, activists and professors speaking to graduates at UC Santa Cruz this year. More than a dozen graduation ceremonies are planned next month. Here is the list:June 12 Fifth annual RAINBOW CEREMONY honoring countywide gay, lesbian, bi, trans, and ally graduates. Includes student, faculty, staff and alumni speakers; entertainment; and a buffet reception. 2:30-5:30 p.m. Women’s Center. Free. Sponsored by the GLBT Resource Center; 459-4385.June 13Ceremony in honor of graduating seniors who...