CNN Anchor Says SCOTUS Ruling Stoking Fears of Jim Crow Forcing ‘Black Folks to Come in the Back Door’
CNN News Central anchor Sara Sidner said Friday’s Supreme Court ruling, that limited LGBTQ protections, is causing “a lot of people to worry about things like Jim Crow.”
Jim Crow laws legalized racial segregation in the U.S. after the Civil War. Under the laws, African Americans lost the right to vote, hold a job, and get an education, among others things.
Sidner read a portion of the 6-3 decision in favor of a Colorado web designer who said her Christian faith precluded her from creating wedding sites for a gay couple.
“[Justice Neil] Gorsuch says that the First Amendment envisions the United States as a rich, and complex place, where all persons are free to think and speak as they wish, not as the government demands. Because Colorado seeks to deny that promise, the judgment is reversed,” Sidner read.
Sidner then cited Jim Crow when asking Chief Legal Analyst Laura Coates, “Could somebody decide they want Black folks to come in the back door, because they don’t want them in the store. I mean, how far might this go?”
“Well, we have to distinguish between free speech in terms of the creative expression and how one markets or makes their art available, and those that might violate other reasonable accommodation laws or laws that are already designed to prevent the scenario you just spoke about. So there’ll be a discussion about where this leads.”
Coates then said she asked the plaintiff for an explanation on why she filed the lawsuit in the first place.
“She talked about clarifying the rights that she would have, or trying to avoid the risk of being sued, with uncertainty as to how entering the wedding website business she might be treated,” Coates said.
Plaintiff Lorie Smith said in a previously taped interview, “My case is not only about me and my artwork, but also protecting the LGBT artist or graphic designer who should not be forced to create custom artwork that opposes same-sex marriage.”
Smith said she received interest from LGBTQ clients, but “I am unable to enter the industry, because the Colorado law would come after me and treat me in a way that’s consistent with the way it’s treated other people of faith. So, I took a stand to not only protect my right, but the right of everyone — everyone should be free to create artwork consistent with what they believe. And, so, I shouldn’t have to sit around and wait to be punished to really challenge this unjust law in Colorado.”
Watch the clip above via CNN.
