06/19/2020
Major Marshall Taylor, world champion cyclist, 1894-1910, broke multiple world records, in the face of overt racial prejudice, threats and violence. Taylor persisted and thrived, hoping to serve as an inspiration for other African American athletes trying to overcome racial prejudice and discriminatory treatment in sports. âI pray they will carry on in spite of that dreadful monster prejudice, and with patience, courage, fortitude and perseverance achieve success for themselves.â On May 18, 1896, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Plessy v. Ferguson that segregation in America was constitutional, establishing the doctrine of âSeparate but Equalâ that would persist as law of the land until the 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education. The court rejected argument that segregation violated the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery, stating that, âA statute which implies merely a legal distinction between the white and colored races -- a distinction which is founded in the color of the two races and which must always exist so long as white men are distinguished from the other race by color -- has no tendency to destroy the legal equality of the two races, or reestablish a state of involuntary servitude.â
While the Brown v. Board of Education ruling, which declared âthe doctrine of âseparate but equalâ has no placeâ in public education, calling segregated schools âinherently unequal,â the ruling did not eliminate all segregation laws, as the civil rights movement continued to challenge segregation laws and the insidious racist practices of institutions and individuals. honors the strength, courage, and love of those that struggle, suffer, and endure to make a better America. âInjustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.â
