I'm a philosophy major and am taking a class called Philosophy of Law. For our last paper we had to analyze the court cases Plessy v. Ferguson and Brown v. Board of Education. In Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), the court ruled that segregation was constitutional as long as the facilities for blacks and whites were "separate but equal" (that phrase was not used specifically in the Court's opinion, but that's the gist of it.) Brown v. Board of Education came along about 58 years later and over-turned the "separate but equal" doctrine as it pertained to education, concluding that segregated educational facilities were "inherently unequal."
I wrote a 5 page paper on the subject and the teacher gave me a B. The only comment she made was regarding this section of my paper:
While I agree that the Louisiana statute did not conflict with the 13th Amendment, I believe that, here, the Court simply got it wrong. Brown claims that, “If the two races are to meet up upon terms of social equality; it must be the result of natural affinities, a mutual appreciation of each other’s merits, and a voluntary consent of individuals.” While I agree with that statement, I find it logically inconsistent that any degree of social equality—that any kind of mutual appreciation—between the races can occur when segregation is allowed to flourish. Furthermore, the court implies that there is a certain degree of involuntariness concerning racial integration as it would not respect the “voluntary consent of individuals.” Justice Harlan, it appears, saw the fallacy in the Court’s reasoning as well when he explained, “The thing to accomplish was, under the guise of giving equal accommodations for whites and blacks, to compel the latter to keep to themselves while traveling in railroad passenger coaches.”
She posed the question on my paper, "How is the question of voluntary consent one that illuminates a fallacy in the opinion of the court?"
My paper received a final grade of "B" although it is ABSOLUTELY clear that she first marked an "A" and then crossed it off and wrote a "B" as my final grade.
So I e-mailed her and said:
Hello. I was just wondering why you clearly marked an "A" on my paper and then scratched it out and gave me a "B" as the final grade? What can I do differently in the future to secure the "A" grade? Thank you.
Also, I wanted to provide an answer to the question you posed in my paper, "How is the question of voluntary consent one that illuminates a fallacy in the opinion of the court?" My answer: The Court claims, on one hand, that "a voluntary consent of individuals" (among other things) is necessary if "the two races are to meet upon terms of social equality." However, on the other hand, a law which requires racial segregation, by its very nature, could not allow for the voluntary consent of individuals to racially integrate to arise. The voluntary consent of individuals needed for the "two races to meet upon terms of social equality" could not occur if blacks and whites are segregated by law. Therefore, while the Court may say that "voluntary consent" is needed, their ruling does not allow for it.
Thank you.
Her response:
You must be seeing things. I did not clearly mark your paper "A" and then scratch it out and give you a "B". If I scratched out anything it was a "B+" or a "B-" In order to get an "A" you can, for beginners, pay attention to the comments I wrote and try to keep them in mind in composing future essays.
Is she not an f-ing moron or what? Sorry for the long post but I had to get it out.
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Originally Posted by MoneyAddyct
