The judicial interpretation of the constitution aims to follow the original intentions of those who drafted it closely.

Watching and/or listening to the confirmation hearings of Amy Coney Barrett has brought my mind the problem with originalism, which politicians and most judges cling to when interpreting either the Constitution or various laws. If the original intent of either the law or the Constitution was racist, doesn’t originalism require perpetuating that racism for eternity?

While most people might grudgingly admit that some laws or even decisions by the Supreme Court were racist, claiming the Constitution itself is racist is a bridge too far for most people, but I beg to differ. Starting with laws and rulings, most people agree that Dred Scott v Sandford which found that Black people were property and had no rights was one of the worst Supreme Court decisions ever. Until overruled by the Fourteenth Amendment, that case was established law, one of three Amendments designed to eradicate slavery mostly. I say mostly because the Thirteenth Amendment still allowed for the enslavement of people as punishment for crimes. …