Thurgood Marshall is a prominent figure in the Civil Rights struggle of the 60 's and best known for the landmark decision of Brown vs Board of Education. Which resulted in overturning the separate but equal discrimination laws in education. Leaving a legacy of “Civil Rights” laws which we now take for granted. “The story of Marshall and the Kenya Constitution has eluded the attention of Marshall’s biographers. It is revealed in archives in the United States and England, and in press accounts from Africa, the United States, and England (Mutua, 724).” Although there were many other leaders in the Civil Rights struggle, his role in fighting the Supreme Court case 's changed the landscape of the United States in ways that were most important with …show more content…
With slavery outlawed through Emancipation Proclamation other forms of discrimination morphed to keep blacks from voting, housing, credit, education and gaining socio-economic power.
Education being a staple towards gaining socio-economic power, separate but equal segregated white students from blacks with huge disadvantages in both quality and disparity in resources provided. “The massive resistance statutes were obviously unconstitutional, and the federal courts routinely agreed (Tushnet, 247).” Thurgood Marshall was clearly aware of this, by getting an education and receiving law degree from Howard University Law School, devoted a great deal of time in combatting the disparity created. “Testifying before President Harry Truman’s Committee on Civil Rights in 1947,
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A lesser known fact is his travel to Africa and involvement with negotiating independence of Kenya from British colonial rule. “Justice Marshall’s deeply influential role in the construction of the bill of rights for Kenya’s independence constitution was largely unknown until Mary Dudziak’s Exporting American Dreams: Thurgood Marshall’s Africa Journey” (Mutua, 1146). During this time the landmark case he won would elevate his status onto the world stage. While the United States claim of Democracy and Capitalism as superior to Communist ideals, yet discriminating against its own African-Americans citizens would have negative ramifications. This would build pressure on the US form its European ally to correct its mistakes and failure in exporting Democracy with tainted NEWS that showed its abuse and injustice of African-Americans within its own borders. To which Thurgood Marshall would state “Whenever the State Department accused Communist regimes of violations of human rights, Marshall said, they responded"with great ease: 'You tell us of forced labor in Russia—what about the lynchings of Negroes in Alabama? (Tushnet,
...dom and right to vote established by the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments, blacks were still oppressed by strong black codes and Jim Crow laws. The federal government created strong legislation for blacks to be helped and educated, but it was ineffective due to strong opposition. Although blacks cried out to agencies, such as the Freemen's Bureau, declaring that they were "in a more unpleasant condition than our former" (Document E), their cries were often overshadowed by violence.
We know, however, that during the 1870s and 1880s, these rights were slowly and systematically taken away from blacks through the use of Jim Crow laws. Blacks saw their rights begin stripped away through legal, illegal, and often violent means. The vast majority of blacks were losing ground, and being forced back into conditions that were just slightly better than slavery. Blacks were kept down by various methods -- economic, social, and political -- but most typically through violence.
African-Americans have significantly contributed to the criminal justice field in the United States through presenting law cases in the Supreme Court and championing for civil rights. One of the African-American names mentioned among those that have had a significant contribution to this field is Thurgood “Thoroughgood” Marshall, who became the first African-American justice to be appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court, and the pioneer of civil rights. With regard to Thurgood Marshall, the purpose of this paper is to explore his contributions to civil rights in the field of criminal justice. To do so, this paper will examine Marshall’s childhood and family background, education, his
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
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...
In 1863 to 1877 Reconstruction brought an end to slavery, it paved the way for the former slaves to become citizens. The African Americans wanted complete freedom. However, that right became a setback and were seen as second class citizens. Before the end of the Reconstruction, a legislation was passed called the Jim Crow law. The law enforced the segregation of people of African descent. The legislation was a system to ensure the exclusion of racial groups in the Southern States. For example, separate transportation law, school division, different waiting rooms both at the bus terminals and hospitals, separate accommodations, marriage law and voting rights. The Jim Crow law was supposed to help in racial segregation in the South. Instead,
Thurgood Marshall was known in the NAACP’s Legal Defense as “Mr. Civil Rights,” because he fought many battles over segregation in the courts. Thurgood Marshall was surrounded by a team of brilliant lawyers, one in particular, Oliver Hill, from Virginia. Mr. Hill won many civil rights suits dealing with discrimination in education and wages. The civil rights movement included different groups with many priorities, all working toward the larger goal of social equality. The most highly educational law suit is Brown v. Board of Education. Oliver Brown sued the Topeka, Kansas, Board of Education to simply allow his own 8 year old daughter Linda attend a nearby school for whites only. Imagine every day walking by a school that have your grade level, riding a bus for miles to attend a school where only students of color must attend. On May 17, 1954, in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, and this is when the Supreme Court issued its historic ruling. It was Thurgood Marshall that spoke to reporters in New York City in 1955, after the Supreme Court ordered the desegregation of public schools. Marshall later became the first African American Supreme Court
Before the decision of Brown v. Board of Education, many people accepted school segregation and, in most of the southern states, required segregation. Schools during this time were supposed to uphold the “separate but equal” standard set during the 1896 case of Plessy v. Ferguson; however, most, if not all, of the “black” schools were not comparable to the “white” schools. The resources the “white” schools had available definitely exceed the resources given to “black” schools not only in quantity, but also in quality. Brown v. Board of Education was not the first case that assaulted the public school segregation in the south. The title of the case was shortened from Oliver Brown ET. Al. v. the Board of Education of Topeka Kansas. The official titled included reference to the other twelve cases that were started in the early 1950’s that came from South Carolina, Virginia, Delaware and the District of Columbia. The case carried Oliver Brown’s name because he was the only male parent fighting for integration. The case of Brown v. Board o...
Blacks were discriminated almost every aspect of life. The Jim Crow laws helped in this discrimination. The Jim Crow laws were laws using racial segregation from 1876 – 1965 at both a social and at a state level.
Marshall, Thurgood. “An African American’s Perspective on the Constitution” in Shafritz, [edited by] Jay M., and Lee S. Weinberg. Classics in American Government. 3rd ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing, 2006.
After the emancipation of slaves in 1862, the status of African-Americans in post civil war America up until the beginning of the twentieth century did not go through a great deal of change. Much legislation was passed to help blacks in this period. The Civil Rights act of 1875 prohibited segregation in public facilities and various government amendments gave African-Americans even more guaranteed rights. Even with this government legislation, the newly dubbed 'freedmen' were still discriminated against by most people and, ironically, they were soon to be restricted and segregated once again under government rulings in important court cases of the era.
John Marshal’s role as chief justice of the Supreme Court had a profound impact on our government. He is considered to be one of the most influential leaders of our nations. His legacy is carried on through the decisions made by various court cases presented to the Supreme Court. Marshall’s rulings in the cases strengthened our nation. These decisions defined the role of the American government, recognized the Indian Natives as a nation, and promoted economic growth.
Patterson, James. “Brown v Board of Education: A Civil Rights Milestone and Its Troubled Legacy (Pivotal Moments in American History).” Oxford University Press., 2001.
African Americans are still facing segregation today that was thought to have ended many years ago. Brown v. Board of Education declared the decision of having separate schools for black and white students to be unconstitutional. As Brown v. Board of Education launches its case, we see how it sets the infrastructure to end racial segregation in all public spaces. Today, Brown v. Board of Education has made changes to our educational system and democracy, but hasn’t succeeded to end racial segregation due to the cases still being seen today. Brown v. Board of Education to this day remains one of the most important cases that African Americans have brought to the surface for the good of the United States. Brown v. Board of Education didn’t just focus on children and education, it also focused on how important equality is even when society claimed that African Americans were treated equal, when they weren’t. This was the case that opened the eyes of many American’s to notice that the separate but equal strategy was in fact unlawful.
The Supreme Court is perhaps most well known for the Brown vs. Board of Education decision in 1954. By declaring that segregation in schools was unconstitutional, Kevern Verney says a ‘direct reversal of the Plessy … ruling’1 58 years earlier was affected. It was Plessy which gave southern states the authority to continue persecuting African-Americans for the next sixty years. The first positive aspect of Brown was was the actual integration of white and black students in schools. Unfortunately, this was not carried out to a suitable degree, with many local authorities feeling no obligation to change the status quo. The Supreme Court did issue a second ruling, the so called Brown 2, in 1955. This forwarded the idea that integration should proceed 'with all deliberate speed', but James T. Patterson tells us even by 1964 ‘only an estimated 1.2% of black children ... attended public schools with white children’2. This demonstrates that, although the Supreme Court was working for Civil Rights, it was still unable to force change. Rathbone agrees, saying the Supreme Court ‘did not do enough to ensure compliance’3. However, Patterson goes on to say that ‘the case did have some impact’4. He explains how the ruling, although often ignored, acted ‘relatively quickly in most of the boarder s...