agreement upon the notorious matter of fact that these citizens are denied the equal protection of the laws; that their privileges and immunities, when measured by and contrasted with the privileges and immunities (commonly called civil rights) enjoyed without discrimination or qualification, by all other American citizens in their industrial business, pursuit of pleasure, "liberty" of their person in travel, public entertainment by inn-keepers and proprietors of places of public resort for instruction or amusement, are denied, abridged, and subjected to onerous conditions; that this denial of the equal protection of the laws and this abridgment of their rights and privileges is solely because of their race, and not for reasons by law applicable to citizens of every race or color, regardless of any previous condition of servitude; and that their enjoyment of these civil rights has been, and now is, subject to conditions, rules, and regulations, prescribed by public servants, and all other classes, which are solely applicable to the citizens of this race and color by reason of, and for no other reason whatsoever than, their race, color, and previous condition of servitude.
The three great Constitutional Amendments first breathed into this oppressed race the breath of that real life, and bestowed upon it that true living soul, which only can exist in an atmosphere of pure and perfect justice, liberty, and equality. That their purpose to make this race rank as citizens should not be defeated, the wise originators of these latter Amendments gave Congress the power, and imposed upon it the duty and obligation, of carrying out the provisions of each of these articles by appropriate legislation. It is a remarkable fact which seems to have escaped general observation, that, notwithstanding the momentous nature of the first twelve Amendments to the Constitution, the framers of those Amendments conferred no authority upon Congress to enforce them. The grave constitutional lawyers who prepared them did not adopt the far-sighted policy of clothing the legislative department of the government with authority to enforce their provisions.[1]
The Civil Rights Bill of 1866, the provisions of which are
- ↑ Brigg v. The Commonwealth, 16 Peters, 559.
