Live at the National Constitution Center

The Story of Plessy v. Ferguson

May 26, 2020

Share

Hosted on the 124th anniversary of the infamous decision, this virtual program tells the story of Plessy v. Ferguson in which the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of segregation.National Constitution President Jeffrey Rosen was joined by Steve Luxenberg, associate editor at The Washington Post and author of Separate: The Story of Plessy v. Ferguson and America’s Journey from Slavery to Segregation, along with Dean Risa Goluboff of the University of Virginia Law School and Ted Shaw of University of North Carolina Law School.  

FULL PODCAST

PARTICIPANTS

Risa Goluboff is the 12th, and the first female, dean of the University of Virginia School of Law. She also holds the positions of Arnold H. Leon Professor of Law and professor of history at UVA. She is the author of Vagrant Nation: Police Power, Constitutional Change, and the Making of the 1960s and The Lost Promise of Civil Rights. Goluboff has been quoted or cited by The New York TimesTimeThe Atlantic and more, and her commentaries frequently appear in Slate. She has appeared on PBS documentaries and the popular radio podcast “BackStory.” She is the co-host of the UVA Law School podcast Common Law. Goluboff is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a member of the American Law Institute and a distinguished lecturer for the Organization of American Historians.

Steve Luxenberg is an associated editor at The Washington Post. He is the author of Separate: The Story of Plessy v. Ferguson, and America’s Journey from Slavery to Segregation. Prior to coming to The Post, Luxenberg was a journalist with The Baltimore Sun.

Theodore Shaw is the Julius L. Chambers Distinguished Professor of Law and Director of the Center for Civil Rights at the University of North Carolina School of Law. Shaw has published many book chapters, articles and essays on civil rights, including the introduction to The Ferguson Report: United States Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division. Shaw previously practiced as a Trial Attorney in the Honors Program of the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division in Washington, D.C. Shaw later worked for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund for over 26 years. There he litigated cases related education, housing, voting rights and capital punishment. He would eventually go on to become its fifth Director-Counsel.

Jeffrey Rosen is the president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization devoted to educating the public about the U.S. Constitution. Rosen is also professor of law at The George Washington University Law School and a contributing editor of The Atlantic.

This episode was engineered by Greg Scheckler with help from Jackie McDermott and produced by Jackie McDermott and Tanaya Tauber.

Stay Connected and Learn More
Questions or comments about the show? Email us at [email protected].

Continue today’s conversation on Facebook and Twitter using @ConstitutionCtr.

Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate, at bit.ly/constitutionweekly.

Please subscribe to Live at the National Constitution Center and our companion podcast We the People on Apple PodcastsStitcher, or your favorite podcast app

Loading...

Explore Further

Podcast
The History of Illiberalism in America

Exploring challenges to liberal democracy from the Founding to today

Town Hall Video
John Lewis: A Life

Author David Greenberg is joined by Professor Kenneth Mack to discuss Greenberg's new biography, John Lewis: A Life, chronicling…

Blog Post
A new Supreme Court term begins in the shadow of a presidential election

The U.S. Supreme Court opens a new term on the eve of an intense, historic election in which the justices may be called on to play…

Educational Video
AP Court Case Review Featuring Caroline Fredrickson (All Levels)

In this fast-paced and fun session, Caroline Fredrickson, one of the legal scholars behind the National Constitution Center’s…

Donate

Support Programs Like These

Your generous support enables the National Constitution Center to hear the best arguments on all sides of the constitutional issues at the center of American life. As a private, nonprofit organization, we rely on support from corporations, foundations, and individuals.

Donate Today

More from the National Constitution Center
Constitution 101 logo
Constitution 101

Explore our new 15-unit core curriculum with educational videos, primary texts, and more.

Photo of student watching online program
Media Library

Search and browse videos, podcasts, and blog posts on constitutional topics.

Painting of Founders meeting
Founders’ Library

Discover primary texts and historical documents that span American history and have shaped the American constitutional tradition.

News & Debate