AUSTIN, Texas — Sen. John Cornyn of Texas tweeted early Saturday a comparison of the overruling of Roe v. Wade to the overruled Plessy v. Ferguson with the Brown v. Board of Education.
Former President Obama expressed his disappointment about the ruling of Dobbs v. Jackson which ended the federal right of a woman to terminate her pregnancy in the U.S.
Similarly, Brown v. Board of Education was a landmark ruling that determined the segregation of races in public schools to be unconstitutional, even if they were “separate but equal.”
Cornyn wrote his tweet presumably to point out a flaw in Obama’s argument on how the Supreme Court disregarded a precedent decision of almost 50 years by comparing Brown v. Education repealing Plessy v. Ferguson, a precedent decision of nearly 60 years, almost an extra decade.
Hours after his initial tweet, Cornyn clarified his intention by saying it’s a good thing that some precedents set by SCOTUS have been overruled.
Despite this second tweet, many still pushed back calling Cornyn “racist,” especially considering the tweet was made in response to the first Black U.S. president. Others have accused him of backtracking on his words after the poor reception the tweet received.
Cornyn has since retweeted tweets supporting his initial one that clarifies the point he presumably made. However, many have responded to those and his own tweets saying the same point could have been made without the comparison, and also that the two differ significantly for him having done so.
A common retort used against Cornyn’s comments pointing out a flaw in his logic is the reasoning of why the implementation of Brown v. Education was made, versus the implementation of Dobbs v. Jackson.
But if you read the dissent, it explains that those changes occurred after a seismic shift in society or the result of new information/science. In this instance the only thing that changed were the nine people on the court.
— Brenden Shur (@brenden_shur) June 25, 2022
Cornyn has yet to release an official statement, clarification on his exact point, or an apology for his tweet. Instead, he has doubled down using retweets of the public that either defends the senator or insults members of the opposing political party.
Cornyn has recently gone against his own party’s recent beliefs and actions regarding gun control in the U.S., not always standing behind the same views of other prominent Texas politicians such as Gov. Abbott, his counterpart Sen. Cruz, and Attorney General Paxton.
Cornyn was born during a time when segregation in public areas was still legal in the U.S.
