Although Justice John Marshall Harlan’s Constitution may have been color- blind, apparently Harlan was not. Before we join Ralph A. Rossum in extolling Harlan’s dissent in Plessy v.. Ferguson (“Justice Harlan’s Constitution,” May 13), it is well to note the ugly personal sentiment expressed by Harlan in the passage immediately preceding his oft-quoted statement that “Our constitution is color-blind”: “The white race deems itself to be the dominant race in this country. And so it is, in prestige, in achievements, in education, in wealth, and in power. So, I doubt not, it will continue to be for all time, if it remains true to its great heritage, and holds fast to the principles of constitutional liberty.”
The cogency of his legal reasoning notwithstanding, I should think Harlan’s embarrassing editorial flourish would undermine any interest that conservatives might have in setting up the opinion as a model for modern-day affirmative-action jurisprudence.
T.A. McKinney, New York, NY
