Black people in the American South experienced a long period of discrimination under Jim Crow, lasting 68 years from Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) to the Civil Rights Act of 1964; or even longer if we go back to earlier Supreme Court decisions in 1873 (Slaughter-House cases) and 1876 (United States v. Cruikshank) that supported racial segregation. Government rulings, federal and state, brought about this intolerable situation. Because of this history and experience, you might think that the leadership of the U.S. federal government as a matter of principle understand and stand against social and economic discrimination founded upon political power. … Continue reading State-Enforced Discrimination and the Ukraine Problem