Clarence Thomas is just the second African American justice to serve on the Supreme Court. Until the very recent confirmations of both Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito, for the past twenty-five plus years, Thomas had been the last conservative to be named to the current court, which is the complete opposite of his predecessor Justice Thurgood Marshall. Thomas’ confirmation hearings have gone down in history as those containing the most drama. His hearings would produce such intense arguments over race and gender. Thomas is one of the most publicly criticized justices in the history of the Supreme Court. The primary reason for that is the "uncommon" connection between his views and the color of his skin. Many black and white liberals consider him a traitor for being a black conservative. He was born in the predominantly African American community of Pin Point, Georgia. He grew up with his grandparents and in the process developed into a "gifted student-athlete". Encouraged by his grandfather to lead a religious life, before attending Yale Law School, Thomas attended Holy Cross University. (Foskett 8-20)
One of Thomas’ first notable "conservative actions" came while attending Holy Cross. In 1968 Thomas and other black students attending the university, started a black student union where Thomas presided as the treasurer. The union had a constitution, and in its preamble it stated,
"We, the Black students of the College of the Holy Cross, in recognizing the necessity for strengthening a sense of racial identity and group solidarity, being aware of a common cause with other oppressed peoples, and desiring to expose and eradicate social inequities and injustices, do hereby establish the Black Students Union of Holy Cross...
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...s confirmed by the smallest margin in our country’s history. (All Referenced)
After Hearings and Opinion
Thomas has served on the Supreme Court for fourteen years. He has accomplished a great deal in his life. He attended some of the finest universities, assisted a president, and is currently serving on the highest court in the land. He is still categorized as “The Black Conservative”. He is the black guy that opposes affirmative action and is opposed to certain ideals that many believe blacks are born with. At the age of fifty-seven today, he will likely serve on the Supreme Court for another decade or two, barring illness. Clarence Thomas has made leaps and bounds clearing the way for many people in the African American community. He is a leader and an inspiration to many and will continue to be respected as he works for justice in the United States of America.
The Supreme Court was important in both suppressing and aiding the Civil Rights Movement. However, decisions taken by the President, the continued white opposition and improvements in media communications also had an effect. Although all were important, the Civil Rights movement alone would have reached the same end without the help of the Supreme Court, and the devotion of its many members and leaders is the major factor in advancing Civil Rights.
Based on the pronouncements of the court on May 17, 1954, everyone in the courtroom was shocked after it became clear that Marshall was right in his claim about the unconstitutionality of legal segregation in American public schools. Essentially, this court’s decision became a most important turning point in U.S. history because the desegregation case had been won by an African American attorney. Additionally, this became a landmark decision in the sense that it played a big role in the crumbling of the discriminatory laws against African Americans and people of color in major socioeconomic areas, such as employment, education, and housing (Stinson, 2008). Ultimately, Marshall’s legal achievements contributed significantly to the criminal justice field.
Clarence Thomas and the many blacks like him also contribute to the “class” rift in the black community. The many educated blacks who do not give back to their community are labeled as “sellouts” by their peers and family me...
Thurgood Marshall was one of the famous Supreme Court judges who had a huge impact on the justice department regarding the civil rights and the society in general. One of the notable quotes by Justice Marshall was that "power, not reason is the currency of this court decision making." This quote has a lot of implication regarding the civil rights, during the time Marshall had observed a change in the judicial system regarding composition to the judges (Vile, and Joseph 14). There was a transformation in the courts where senior judges had retired paving a way for younger justices. These changes also affected the perception and views of the justice, regarding civil rights. The shift from analysis
In the mid 1900's, America was finally now an independent country, but had many flaws within their undeveloped system. Racism and segregation towards African Americans was at an all time high in the Southern states. With the Jim Crow laws in place, the privileges that white Americans had were overwhelmingly more than African Americans had ("Civil Rights Movement," para. 1). During this period of injustice in our country's history, there were many activists of equal rights, both black and white. While there were many people who helped the cause, one of the most influential civil rights activists was John Lewis.
Justice Clarence Thomas was born in June 1948 and grew up in Georgia. He graduated at Yale Law School and served as the Assistant Attorney General in Missouri, practicing law in the private sector. In 1981 he was appointed Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education one year later, Justice Thomas was appointed Chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission by President Ronald Reagan. By 1991 Justice Thomas was nominated by Bush to fill Thurgood Marshall’s seat on the United States Supreme Court.
Thurgood Marshall overcame discrimination by his dreams of going into the law field despite the racism surrounding him at that time. “Thurgood Marshall, the great-grandson of a slave, grew up in the South and experienced racism and discrimination firsthand” (Hitzeroth and Leon 9). Since he was raised in the South, a more racist part of the country, he was already experiencing racism at a young age. He could not shop in the same store, sit in the same section of the bus, or attend the same schools as white children and white people in general (Hitzeroth and Leon 9-10). Also, he was a cum laude honors student, but he was denied admission to the University Of Maryland Law School because of the color of his skin (Hitzeroth and Leon 10). Despite all of these events, he still chose to pursue a career in law. Part of this could be because his father taught him to respect the U.S. Constitution and the authority of law (Thurgood Marshall Biography). Also, “author John Egerton wrote in his book Speak Now Against the Day, ‘In courtrooms, black lawyers were exceedingly...
Robert F. Williams was one of the most influential active radical minds of a generation that toppled Jim Crow and forever affected American and African American history. During his time as the president of the Monroe branch of the NAACP in the 1950’s, Williams and his most dedicated followers (women and men) used machine guns, Molotov cocktails, and explosives to defend against Klan terrorists. These are the true terrorists to American society. Williams promoted and enforced this idea of "armed self-reliance" by blacks, and he challenged not just white supremacists and leftists, but also Martin Luther King Jr., the NAACP, and the civil rights establishment itself. During the 1960s, Williams was exiled to Cuba, and there he had a radical radio station titled "Radio Free Dixie." This broadcast of his informed of black politics and music The Civil Rights movement is usually described as an nonviolent / peaceful call on America 's guilty conscience, and the retaliation of Black Power as a violent response of these injustices against African Americans. Radio Free Dixie shows how both of these racial and equality movements spawned from the same seed and were essentially the same in the fight for African American equality and an end to racism. Robert F. Williams 's story demonstrates how independent political action, strong cultural pride and identity, and armed self-reliance performed in the South in a semi-partnership with legal efforts and nonviolent protest nationwide.
One of many of Thurgood Marshall’s accomplishments was his very successful career as a lawyer. Most of his cases were about racial equality. One of his early victories was the Murray v. Pearson case (“Thurgood Marshall”). This case was about a young African American, Donald Murray, being rejected
"Thurgood Marshall was a rebel."(1) His method of activism differed from those of other civil rights leaders of the time. By addressing the courts and using his legal expertise, Marshall was able to have a more direct influence on society and the way government was treating blacks at the time. His use of the of the courts led to rulings that deemed the exclusion of blacks from primary elections, the use of racial profiling in terms of housing, the "separate but equal" mentality concerning working facilities and universities, and especially the segregation of elementary schools unconstitutional. With a resume like that it is no wonder he is still considered one of the most influential of the civil rights activists.
Words can bring positive change to a community, be it a small town or the entire world - all it takes is two key components, delivery and content. This was certainly the case with Clarence Darrow’s 1926 concluding speech in defence of African American, Henry Sweet, accused of the murder of a white man. Darrow’s monumental eight-hour speech set a legal precedent when Sweet was acquitted of his murder charge. The speech, “Changed the status of Negros before the law and meant in respect to defending ones home and self in self defence, what applied to whites now, in practice and not just in word, apply to African Americans as well.” Clarence Darrow’s speech, along with Henry Sweet’s acquittal, is now considered huge milestone in the civil rights movement.
Martin Luther King, Jr. lost his life trying to better the lives of African American people who, because of their skin color, didn’t have the same rights as white people in America. King was a man of integrity and passion with a vision of a desegregated society. He played a part in the Civil Rights Movements where he eventually went to jail because of his protesting, and he became involved in the Montgomery, Alabama bus boycott.
( “Brown v. Board of Education”) Marshall was instrumental in ending segregation and became the first African American justice of the Supreme Court. Thurgood was a significant figure in American history because he fought for economic, social, and political justice for minorities as well as helped stop segregation in America’s education system.
...ade for Justice, shed light on the hardships experienced by African American men who chose to resist and fight back against inequality and also provided an example of the aforementioned effect suggested by Harlan’s dissent in the Plessy v. Ferguson decision. Lastly, Booker T. Washington’s Advocates Compromise offered one solution to the issue of segregation and the general prevalence of racial discrimination. All three primary sources were related in its ties to the issue of segregation between the late 1800s and early 1900s. In conclusion, John Marshall Harlan’s dissent was definitely an accurate prediction of the various obstacles that were thrown at the African American people. Harlan was correct in all of his claims; it is only unfortunate that it took the majority over five decades to finally realize that separate and equal facilities do not and cannot exist.
“When contemporary Americans cite “The Constitution,” they invoke a concept that is vastly different from what the framers barely began to construct two centuries ago” (Marshall 611). This quote from Thurgood Marshall conveys his message in “Reflections on the Bicentennial of the United States Constitution.” Thurgood Marshall is the first Black Supreme Court justice, and he wrote these reflections in 1987. He does not believe that the Founding Fathers’ idea of The Constitution should be highly celebrated, as it no longer exists in that state. His essay is filled with historical context and substance. Using a clever delivery, his message is conveyed emotionally and with logic. The method of organization allows the reader to better absorb