And The Lights Go Down in the City

"Separate, but equal."

I don't know about you, but I feel that this is one of the worst decisions ever made by the Supreme Court. 

Subway line

Our topic for today was civil rights, and we discussed the cases of Dred Scott v. Sanford, Plessy v. Ferguson, and Brown v. Board I & II. In 1848, a Missouri slave, Dred Scott, sought to win his freedom in a lawsuit against the widow of John Emerson, his owner and an army medical officer. Scott contended that he had been emancipated as a result of Emerson's having taken him to live on military posts in Illinois and in federal territory north of 36 30 where slavery was outlawed by the Missouri compromise of 1820. Scott argued that his residence on free soil had changed his statues as a slave, however, the court ruled that since he was not a citizen, he could not be seen in federal court. But after re-appealing to the court, he eventually won his freedom.  During our afternoon session, we watched a film on the story of Korematsu and the racial discrimination against him during wartime with Japan. I learned that it took over 40 years for his case to be taken back to court, and for justice to be served. 

Daytime view

Nighttime view

Later on in the day, my cohort and I met up with Ms. Thrift and headed to the Brooklyn bridge. We paced ourselves, as we arrived during the day, and apparently the view is phenomenal at night. And oh boy, it was! The view was so beautiful that it almost seemed fake! My grandparents have this one painting in their living room of the city at night, decorated with little bulbs within it to make the lights pop out. I felt like I was in this painting, seeing all of the lights coming out of the buildings. Walking along the Brooklyn bridge was amazing, and I feel is something everyone should try to do. 

After our stroll along the Brooklyn bridge, we headed towards this one dessert place near 72nd, and we all spoiled ourselves with some delicious cake (except Deborah who had this AMAZING apple pie).  We had to cut our dessert break early, as it was 10:30 and we still had to make it back to campus. After running a few blocks and crossing some fingers, we all ended up making it back on time, and called our beautiful day to an end.