Racism is a powerful piece in our nations history. About more than 60 years ago, we struggled in a society of discrimination and racial segregation. We lived in a time of cruelty because we didn’t see eye to eye with a person who had a different skin color. But overtime we have evolved from racism and focused on fairness. The interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment has contributed to racial equality by the Equal Protection clause. The clause was a deciding factor in cases that involved racism. Though it sometimes limited rights, the Equal Protection clause eventually became a key element to justice. Lum vs. Rice (1927) was a Supreme Court case where the Mississippi education board did not allow a nine year old girl to attend the all-white Rosedale Consolidated School because of her ethnicity. Gong Lum’s daughter, Martha Lum, was Chinese and a native-born in the United States. One day, a superintendent at Rosedale told Martha to leave school because she was not Caucasian. Gong Lum later filed for suit and the state trial court was in his favor. The state took the issue to officials to readmit Martha Lum, however, the Supreme Court opposed the state’s decision. The Supreme Court supported their argument from the Cumming vs. Richmond County Board of Education case (1899) where it showed that schools are allowed to be separated for white and “colored” students. They also focused on whether or not Martha Lum was being denied of her equal protection of the laws from the 14th Amendment. This brought the Supreme Court to uphold the Plessy vs. Ferguson case (1896) by approaching the concept “separate but equal.” They declared that Martha Lum was not white and the Board of Trustees was allowed to exclude her from Rosedale. In 1954, the Brown family went against the Board of Education because they believed segregated schools can never be equal despite their similar buildings and curriculum. This sparked after Linda Brown and her sister had to walk to their school through dangerous railroads even though there was a school (all-white) closer to their home. The Supreme Court decided the segregation of public schools violated the Equal Protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Unlike the Lum vs. Rice case, “separate but equal” had no place for society because it was now (legally) seen as unfair. The Brown vs. Board of Education repealed the Lum vs. Rice case and the discriminatory Plessy vs. Ferguson case. The Brown vs. Board of Education case did not fully desegregate public schools, but it influenced a sea of activists to start making a change. From bus boycotts to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the civil rights movement turned into a revolution.
Lum vs. Rice and Brown vs. Board of Education included the equal protection clause from the 14th Amendment where the state can’t “deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of laws.” In Lum vs. Rice, the 14th Amendment limited the rights of the Lum family because they were classified as “colored.” In Brown vs. Board of Education, the 14th Amendment expanded the rights of students because schools were now segregated. These cases are different not only because of their outcomes but because of a change in time. The 1920s were much more conservative years compared to the 1950s. We’ve started to evolve from the tradition of keeping things separate to choosing to live as equals. Today, we are free from discrimination. People from different cultures and ethnicities can come together in school, work, etc. But race plays a small factor in the job industry and admitting applicants to colleges. They take it into consideration to create a more diverse environment. And even though our society is diverse, there are still some people that are racist. It’s an issue that’s important to me because I have cousins that come from interracial families. They’ve been personally affected from looks they were given or being called a “mut.” I hope our community goes nowhere but up in the future. I want us to continue to live in racial equality and treat every person with the respect they deserve.
In Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech he said, "I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed - we hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal." MLK’s word still stands today, and is supported by the equal protection clause in the 14th Amendment. Living in a country made up of immigrants, equality is what truly defines us as American. Being equal is a concept we should have in our daily lives and continue to pass on to future generations.