That’s correct. The separate but equal analogy doesn’t hold up. Once the two things are equal, the analogy is inapt.
But what some referencing a point I’ve made numerous times, and getting it wrong. Blacks and whites now access the same water at the same drinking fountain. Let’s say there is a park with two fountains, one for each race. Blacks drink from the Blacks fountain and whites drink from the Whites fountain. Then, a law gets passed saying that you can’t do that. That everyone has to be able to enjoy the same quality of water. One way to do that is to just have one fountain. Everybody drinks from it, blacks, whites, browns, greens, blues, yellows, what have you. We have equality, yes? Yes.
Now, in the analogy, the water is our laws. More specifically, our laws outlining the rights and privileges afforded voters. It used to be, that only men we’re able to enjoy those laws. But now we pass another law stating that both Men (with Voting) and women (through FemVoting) can both drink from that same fountain. They can both enjoy the same cool water. Or set of laws.
Part of the confusion that some insist upon is in confusing the two groups we seek to treat equally with the two things (water fountains, schools, set of laws) that the two groups are allowed to use. “Separate but equal” talks to the latter. It says that since we cannot make two things equal—schools, for instance—so we won’t have one group going to School A and the other group going to School B. We’ll send both groups to both schools.
This has been done. Black kids and white kids now attend the same schools. Notice the “and” there? Two groups now both tap into one system.
Now we go back and substitute Blacks and Whites with Men voting and Women voting. Theses two groups would both tap into one set of laws. One, not two. There is no question of whether two things are equal because there is only one thing. One set of laws.
Two groups. Tapping into one thing. Blacks and whites enjoy the same water coming out of the same, single fountain. And Men and Women voters enjoying the sam benefits and privileges coming from the same, single set of laws.
