Essay on Racial Preferences and the Constitution

The Constitution and the Amendments are two very important documents that are needed in order to keep the people of America in order. The purpose of the Constitution is to, “form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity” (Constitution Preamble). The purpose of the Bill of Rights and the 17 Amendments, bringing the total to 27, are to protect the rights of the people of America and to prevent the government from having full control over the people.

Think of the word tyrant. Now just imagine that there was a simple and easy way to stop him or her. That’s what the constitution has done for the U.S.A. Our Constitution has protected us against tyranny since the day it was drafted. The constitution is an official document that was written in May 1787 in the city of Philadelphia Pennsylvania. The purpose of the constitution is to form a central federal government, to form a separation between federal and state rights, and to give personal liberties to its citizens.

The Supreme Court is perhaps most well known for the Brown vs. Board of Education decision in 1954. By declaring that segregation in schools was unconstitutional, Kevern Verney says a ‘direct reversal of the Plessy … ruling’1 58 years earlier was affected. It was Plessy which gave southern

The Constitution of the United States of America was ratified in the year 1787. Ever since that date, the document has enforced the laws set forth and created a base for the country to stand upon. The Constitution was created to provide strict, but amenable guidelines that Americans could follow, which could result in a functional country. Aside from the fact that the Constitution was written over two hundred years ago, the document is still necessary and relevant to modern times. The three branches of government, the First Amendment, as well as the Fourth Amendment, are all still present in today’s America. Many of the rules in the Constitution are still accordant to society today, primarily because of the perceptive founding fathers who created them.

The Plessy V. Ferguson and Brown V. Board of Education are two cases that changed the way that we live today in a quite dramatic way. The Plessy V. Ferguson was a case that promoted segregation. The majority voted for segregation and the minorities opposed the idea and the key precedent that was established after this case was that the U.S. Supreme Court didn't base their trial off of the constitution and instead based their trial upon the statement 'separate but equal'. The Brown V. Board of Education case was a case that completely opposed the idea of 'separate but equal' because the whole case revolved around the fact that a mother wanted her children to go to a school that was easier to get to however it was a school that was only for white children so the mother decided to take the case to court and the majority voted on letting the African American students attend white schools and the minorities voted otherwise. The key precedent that was established after this case was that segregation in schools violates the 14th amendment and it should not be permitted by the U.S. Supreme Court. These two cases were important for the transformation for the America we have today, and they influenced America's thought process and actions significantly.

The constitution of the United States of America is the founding document on which the government of America is built. It currently has twenty-seven amendments. It lines out the specific government practices as well as the system of check and balances. It was first drafted July, 1787 after the first form of government, the articles of confederation, had proven very inefficient to a point where it became almost redundant to have them in place. After a large amount of debate the acting continental congress decide to completely revise the current system. The constitution was efficient and fair and it kept the parts of government in place while not giving too much power to one or more branches.

When Confederate states wanted to join the Union after Civil war, they were required to undertake “Civil War” Amendments. The Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments were developed, with each supporting equality within the states. However, these Amendments proved to be insufficient in the provision of equal rights to African American citizens (Medley,2003). In the late 19th Century, laws limiting civil rights of the Blacks swept through state legislatures. Segregation then became a requirement in both Southern and Northern states.

“Our Constitution is color-blind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens.” Said Justice John Marshall Harlan in the case of Plessy v. Ferguson. (“Oyez, Oyez, Oh Yay!”) In 1890 Louisiana surprisingly got the ability to pass a law called the Separate Car Act that said that all railroad companies that carried passengers must provide separate but equal services for both white and non-white passengers. (“Landmark Cases”) The penalty for sitting in a white-designated railroad car when you were not of that ethnicity was a fine of twenty-five dollars or twenty days in jail. (“Landmark Cases”) There was a doctrine passed that everything was “separate but equal.” This doctrine was false however because in almost all situations the

The landmark Supreme Court cases of Dred Scott v. Sandford, Plessy v. Ferguson, and Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas have had a tremendous effect on the struggle for equal rights in America. These marker cases have set the precedent for cases dealing with the issue of civil equality for the last 150 years.

In modern-day America the issue of racial discrimination in the criminal justice system is controversial because there is substantial evidence confirming both individual and systemic biases. While there is reason to believe that there are discriminatory elements at every step of the judicial process, this treatment will investigate and attempt to elucidate such elements in two of the most critical judicial junctures, criminal apprehension and prosecution.

Brown V. Board of Education is commonly considered the most important case to date regarding education and civil rights. Education as we know it, would be completely different if The Supreme Court had not ruled in favor of the plaintiffs. I am confident that another case would have come along and changed it later had they not won this case. History would be completely different regarding the war on Civil Rights if things had gone differently. Until this case, many states implemented laws mandating separate schools for white and black students. This historical case made the previous laws established during the former Plessy V. Ferguson case unconstitutional.

In today’s world, the American still has barriers to overcome in the matter of racial equality. Whether it is being passed over for a promotion at the job or being underpaid, some people have to deal with unfair practice that would prevent someone of color or the opposite sex from having equal opportunity at the job. In 2004, Dukes vs. Wal-Mart Stores Incorporation was a civil rights class-action suite that ruled in favor of the women who worked and did not received promotions, pay and certain job assignments. This proves that some corporations ignore the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which protects workers from discrimination based on sex, race, religion or national origin.

Throughout the history of the country, America has been considered a fairly racist union. From the workplaces to the society, as an Asian, I felt there's a strong barrier between white and black people, although I felt a little bit of racial among us. In this essay, I will talk about the major racial issue of this country through out my experiences.

There are two recent lawsuits from 2003 that brought to the forefront college admissions using race; these include Grutter v. Bollinger and Gratz v. Bollinger (Bowman, 2013). Both cases involve the University of Michigan. In Grutter v. Bollinger, the court sided with the university stating that their admissions office can continue to use race-based initiatives in fostering an education benefit to the students (Bowman, 2013).

In the constitution there are 27 amendments/changes. The purpose of the 27 amendments is to change the law to solve new issues that were not around when the Constitution was written. Of the 27 amendments, the first ten, are known as the Bill of Rights which went into effect December 15, 1791. The Bill of Rights guarantees the individual rights of citizens. The constitution; written in 1787 exists to serve the states, protect people, and restrain the government. The constitution replaced the articles of confederation.