Make It Plain with Mark Thompson

Plessy vs. Ferguson upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation under the concept of “separate but equal.” The case is more than 125 years old now, but Dr. Susan T. Gooden and co-contributors have a new report that shows how the landmark case’s ripple effect is still present in today’s society, from criminal justice, to education, and even COVID-19 vaccine distribution. Dr. Gooden is Dean and Professor of the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University, as well as an internationally recognized expert on social equity, and she joins the show today to dig into how, exactly, Plessy vs. Ferguson’s legacy is playing its part in keeping Black and Brown communities from having greater access to the vaccine, despite the fact that those communities have been hit hardest by coronavirus. Co-Contributors: John A. Powell, University of California, Berkeley, and Samuel L. Myers Jr., University of Minnesota Read the report here: https://www.russellsage.org/news/ples