Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/22pdf/20-1199_hgdj.pdf
Page Number: 63.0

Cite as:  600 U. S. ____ (2023) 

15 

THOMAS, J., concurring 

sought to “make illegal all distinctions on account of color” 
because  “there  should  be  no  distinction  recognized  by  the
laws of the land.”  Id., at 819; see also 3 Cong. Rec., at 956 
(statement  of  Rep.  Cain)  (“[M]en  [are]  formed  of  God 
equally . . . .  The civil-rights bill simply declares this: that 
there  shall  be  no  discriminations  between  citizens  of  this 
land so far as the laws of the land are concerned”).  The view 
of  the  Legislature  was  clear:  The  Constitution  “neither
knows  nor  tolerates  classes  among  citizens.”  Plessy,  163 
U. S., at 559 (Harlan, J., dissenting). 

D 

The  earliest  Supreme  Court  opinions  to  interpret  the 
Fourteenth Amendment did so in colorblind terms.  Their 
statements  characterizing  the  Amendment  evidence  its 
commitment  to  equal  rights  for  all  citizens,  regardless  of 
the color of their skin.  See ante, at 10–11. 
  In  the  Slaughter-House  Cases,  16  Wall.  36  (1873),  the
Court identified the “pervading purpose” of the Reconstruc-
tion Amendments as “the freedom of the slave race, the se-
curity and firm establishment of that freedom, and the pro-
tection  of  the  newly-made  freeman  and  citizen  from  the
oppressions of those who had formerly exercised unlimited 
dominion over him.”  Id., at 67–72.  Yet, the Court quickly
acknowledged  that  the  language  of  the  Amendments  did 
not suggest “that no one else but the negro can share in this 
protection.”  Id., at 72.  Rather, “[i]f Mexican peonage or the 
Chinese  coolie  labor  system  shall  develop  slavery  of  the 
Mexican  or  Chinese  race  within  our  territory,  [the  Thir-
teenth Amendment] may safely be trusted to make it void.” 
Ibid.  And,  similarly,  “if  other  rights  are  assailed  by  the 
States which properly and necessarily fall within the pro-
tection of these articles, that protection will apply, though 
the party interested may not be of African descent.”  Ibid.