What Would ... Prof. Gressman Say: On State-Approved Racism

In my last post, I incorrectly noted the Supreme Court Justice for whom Prof. Gressman clerked. He clerked for Justice Frank Murphy, from Prof. Gressman's home state of Michigan.

Justice Murphy penned an unforgettable dissent in Korematsu v. United States-- the case that ruled that the U.S. had a constitutional basis for internment of Japanese residents.

There is widespread speculation that Gene Gressman wrote-- or influenced Justice Murphy to write-- an especially stinging dissenting opinion. To be clear, take nothing away from Justice Murphy's brave and very unpopular dissent. The point is that few if any justices ever had spoken so openly about "racism" in America until that opinion was written. The Quaker sensibilities of Gene Gressman likely played a role in the tone of this dissent.

These words are more relevant than ever today:

"I dissent ... from this legalization of racism. Racial discrimination in any form and in any degree has no justifiable part whatever in our democratic way of life. It is unattractive in any setting but it is utterly revolting among a free people who have embraced the principles set forth in the Constitution of the United States. All residents of this nation are kin in some way by blood or culture to a foreign land. Yet they are primarily and necessarily a part of the new and distinct civilization of the United States. They must accordingly be treated at all times as the heirs of the American experiment and as entitled to all the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution."