States' Rights and Segregation
The 14th Amendment ended
the institutionalizing of racism in the United States, but a post-Civil War
obstructionist Supreme Court negated most of it's authority.
Resulting was "Separate but Equal", a new law "legislated" by the Court contrary
to the will of the people, and it would last for100 years, until ended by the
Earl Warren Court.
The
federal government had a constitutional duty to ensure that the states did not
discriminate against anyone on account of race, but did not have an authority to
demand it of citizens, through their private personal or business practices.
Congress got around this with the Commerce Clause, prohibiting racial
discrimination by businesses engaged in sales with people of other states or
that were regulated by the federal government where
Washington exercised authority, and this included hotels, bars, and other
business establishments. The Constitution gives United States citizens the
right to freely move between states, and the 14th Amendment requires that the
States (but not the people) honor the privileges or immunities of United
States citizens.
The 14th Amendment is a
well written document carefully preserving states' rights while ensuring that
each of the states treat their citizens equally and by a fair set of rules.
It does nothing more: It does not prohibit religion in schools nor does it
grant a mother a fundamental right to terminate the life of her own child.
It does require that state laws regulating religion and abortion, similarly to
race, be equal and fair.
Whether or not forced integration and it's
resulting problems was the better method of obtaining a just society may be
debatable, but beyond dispute was the federal government's constitutional
authority to forcibly integrate state institutions; a policy firmly established
by the people of the United States in the year 1868.
--States' Liberty Party,
December 21, 2002
First
unofficial flag of the Confederacy