Supreme Court recent civil rights decisions and the Lafayette Square fence, in readers’ eyes.
The July 14 front-page article “‘Colorblind Constitution’ concept underlies key Supreme Court decisions” portrayed constitutional colorblindness as an obscure conservative invention recently elevated by a rightward-moving Supreme Court. That framing is difficult to reconcile with the history the article recounted.
The phrase comes not from the Reagan administration or Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., but from Justice John Marshall Harlan’s celebrated dissent in Plessy v. Ferguson. Objecting to state-mandated segregation, Harlan wrote that “our Constitution is color-blind” and that, with respect to civil rights, all citizens are equal before the law.
Continue reading this commentary on The Washington Post website here (access limited to subscribers only).
Home > How Should the Court Address Discrimination?
How Should the Court Address Discrimination?
By Sara Albrecht | July 17, 2026
(The Washington Post: Opinion)
Supreme Court recent civil rights decisions and the Lafayette Square fence, in readers’ eyes.
The July 14 front-page article “‘Colorblind Constitution’ concept underlies key Supreme Court decisions” portrayed constitutional colorblindness as an obscure conservative invention recently elevated by a rightward-moving Supreme Court. That framing is difficult to reconcile with the history the article recounted.
The phrase comes not from the Reagan administration or Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., but from Justice John Marshall Harlan’s celebrated dissent in Plessy v. Ferguson. Objecting to state-mandated segregation, Harlan wrote that “our Constitution is color-blind” and that, with respect to civil rights, all citizens are equal before the law.
Continue reading this commentary on The Washington Post website here (access limited to subscribers only).