Plessy v. Ferguson- The Dissenting Opinion

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Justice Harlan's decision in the case of Plessy vs. Ferguson was not one of the majority opinion. Otherwise known as a "dissenting opinion" he actually believed the opposite of the majority opinion, meaning that he believed that the ruling of the case was inaccurate, that the idea of separate but equal WAS in fact, a violation of the 14th Amendment; despite what the Court might have said. I believe Harlan wrote the argument to put his opinion out there; even though he was the only one in court that felt that way, there were probably others out there that felt the same way he did and maybe he wanted to show others that not everyone in the court room held the same opinions. Keeping his opinion to himself would've just covered his true feelings about the case and maybe he was thinking that by him not being afraid to show his true opinions on the case, other people would also get the courage to speak their minds about the situation as well.
Being from the era that I am from I believe he made a good argument and I believe that other people in the year 2016 would react the same as I did, the times have changed drastically since that era and I feel that if this verdict were to happen now there would be a massive outrage and that more people would side with Justice Harlan's opinion instead of the one that the majority originally chose. However in the year 1896, due to the fact that slavery had ended not too long before, I'm sure the public opinion would be different; especially if you were in the south.
As a country we have obviously come a long way from these days and I believe occurrences like this did nothing but help everyday people to see how wrong slavery and discrimination actually were and still are. Had Judge Harlan and others been too afraid to speak their minds, who knows how long it would've taken our country to get where it is today. I believe his opinion shed light on the path of the law because it brought up the fact that separate but equal was not in fact what it pertained to be- equal.