Republican Sen. John Cornyn (Texas) recently wrote a tweet in support of the Supreme Court’s anti-abortion decision in which he appeared to advocate for far right justices to reexamine cases on racial segregation as well.
Cornyn was responding a tweet from former President Barack Obama, who chastised the court for its reversal of “nearly 50 years of precedent” recognizing abortion protections throughout the country.
The court’s ruling to undo its previous findings in the landmark 1973 decision, Roe v. Wade “relegated the most intensely personal decision someone can make to the whims of politicians and ideologues — attacking the essential freedoms of millions of Americans,” Obama said.
Cornyn directly quoted Obama’s tweet in his post celebrating the reversal of Roe.
“Now do Ferguson vs. Plessy/Brown vs Board of Education,” Cornyn wrote, referring to two Supreme Court rulings on racial segregation.
Now, Plessy vs Ferguson/Brown/Board of Education. https://t.co/hrUYCcIq8Y
— Senator John Cornyn (@JohnCornyn) June 25, 2022
Many social media users pointed it out. appeared that Cornyn was calling for the Supreme Court to reexamine rulingsConcerning racist laws that allowed states to impose segregation at schools and other public institutions.
In Plessy, In 1896, the court alleged that local and state governments had the power to segregate public facilities. The Constitution provided no guarantees of equal treatment. The ruling established the precedent of “separate but equal” — a notion that the Court ultimately rejected in its 1954 ruling in BrownIt acknowledged that segregation was inherently inequitable, particularly in public schools.
Cornyn tweeted again hours later after being confronted with widespread backlash. “Thank goodness some SCOTUS precedents are overruled,” he wroteHe suggested that he was trying to emphasize the idea that the Court should have the ability to change its mind about errant rulings made in past, using the PlessyAnd Brown cases as examples.
However, that explanation is still “puzzling,” according to BET news writer Paul Meara, “considering RoeSimilar to Brown, established rights for people, while its reversal removed them.”
Social media users echoed this sentiment, writing that Cornyn’s tweet was offensive regardless of his explanation.
“BrownPrecedence already in force is granted additional rights [sic],” wrote one user. “What SCOTUS did [last week]It was to remove rights. This is a bad faith argument and simply serves to deflect and distract.”
“Brown v The Board of EducationIncreased freedoms [last week’s Supreme Court ruling] restricted healthcare freedom for millions,” said another Twitter user.
