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The importance of Thurgood Marshall during the civil rights movement
Thurgood Marshall: the fight for equal justice
Thurgood Marshall: the fight for equal justice
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Why was Thurgood Marshall Famous?
Thurgood Marshall was born on July 2, 1908, in Baltimore, MD. He was born to his Mother Norma Marshall and Father William Marshall. In his lifetime he was a civil Right Activist, Lawyer, Circuit Court Judge & Solicitor General, and a Supreme Justice. He died at the age 84 on January 24, 1993. He was married twice in his lifetime first to Vivien "Buster" Burey till her death in 1955 then to Cecilia Suyat till his death. He had two sons by his second wife Thurgood Marshall. Jr and John W. Marshall.
Thurgood Marshall attended Frederick Douglass High School and graduated with an above average in 1926. Three years later he got married to his first wife Vivian Burey in September 4, 1929 at the age of 21. He attended Lincoln University College in 1930. He graduated in 1933 with honors. After college he applied to university of Maryland law school, Even though he was over qualified academically he was still denied because of his race. He then applied to Howard Law School it’s a Historically Black school.
Once he graduated from law school, Marshall attempted to establish his own practice but wasn’t able because he had no experience and failed to receive any cases. Thurgood then began working for the Baltimore Branch of the National Association the advancement of colored people in 1934. In one of his first cases Marshall defended Donald Murray. He was denied acceptance into University Of Maryland Law. Marshall and Charles Houston won Murray v. Pearson in January 1935. Marshall biggest case as lawyer was the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka.
Thurgood was appointed director counsel for NAACP in 1939. In 1940 thurgood prepared his first Supreme Court brief the Chambers v. Florida the NAACP sought to o...
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... – Thurgood Marshall
14. "None of us got where we are solely by pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps. We got here because somebody—a parent, a teacher, an Ivy League crony or a few nuns—bent down and helped us pick up our boots."
– Thurgood Marshall
15. "Our whole constitutional heritage rebels at the thought of giving government the power to control men's minds."
– Thurgood Marshall
16. "The measure of a country's greatness is its ability to retain compassion in times of crisis."
– Thurgood Marshall
Resources/Bibliography
1. Thurgood Marshall." 2014. The Biography Channel website. Mar 03 2014, 05:26 http://www.biography.com/people/thurgood-marshall-9400241.
2. Aldred, Lisa. Thurgood Marshall. New York: Chelsea House, 1990. Print.
3 "Thurgood Marshall Quotes." Brain Quotes. 17 Mar. 2014 .
He had to change the university to enroll in a law school to be able to achieve his dream of becoming an attorney. He wanted to study law at the University of Maryland Law School, but this college did not admit blacks. For this reason, Thurgood had to undertake his legal studies at Howard Law School, which admitted black students being historically a black college. He would later graduate first in his law school class. Most importantly, Thurgood had spent two years out of law school, where he filed a petition against the University of Maryland Law School for refusing to accept blacks. He made a compelling case by persuading a judge to take a legal action against this university (Mintz & McNeil, 2016). This petition kick-started his law practice and gave him a platform to contribute to civil rights thus leaving an indelible mark in the field of criminal
Earl Warren is considered a leader in American politics and law in the 20th century. Warren was the governor of California and during his time was able to secure many major reform legislations that helped modernize hospital systems, prisons, and highways. His time as governor also led to the expansion of the old-age and unemployment benefits. In 1953, he became the 14th Chief of Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. As Chief of Justice, he was able to rewrite much of the corpus of constitutional law. His most famous case as Chief of Justice was Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. This case ruled that segregation in schools was unconstitutional since it did not give equal protection under the law to African Americans. Although the court was divided at first, his efforts were able to gain a unanimous decision. His court also sought out electoral reforms, equality in criminal justice and the defense of human rights. In 1963, Gideon v. Wainwright was a major case that sought equality in criminal justice. This case required counsel in court for defendants even if they could not afford
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...
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
Malcolm Little, Aka Malcolm X, was a famous civil rights movement activist. He had a hard childhood. He was picked on due to the light color of his skin by peers and family members. He grew up poor and spent years of his life committing crimes and ended up in prison. Malcolm X found Islam in prison, and developed different philosophies which came from his childhood experiences. Malcolm X eventually found peace, and unfortunately was killed after he began to make a positive difference.
Named after his dad’s brother, Thoroughgood Marshall was born in the summer of 1908. Thoroughgood Marshall shortened his name to Thurgood Marshall in the second grade because he thought his name was too long and he disliked spelling it. He originated from a middle class family in Baltimore, Maryland. Neither technically included within the north or the south of the country, Maryland’s racism reflected its position on a map. Between the obvious race divided south and the less prejudice north, Maryland included individuals with a mixture of principles and beliefs at the time. The author makes a good point that the geographic setting that Marshall originated from was one of the few factors that formed his thoughts and views on civil rights. His dad, William Marshall, worked as a waiter and country club steward. His mother, Norma Williams, was an elementary school teacher.
The next big step in the civil rights movement came in 1954, with the BROWN vs. BOARD OF EDUCATION OF TOPEKA case, where Thurgood Marshall, representing Brown, argued that segregation was against the 4th Amendment of the American constitution. The Supreme Court ruled, against President Eisenhower’s wishes, in favour of Brown, which set a precedent in education, that schools should no longer be segregated. This was the case which completely overturned the Jim Crow Laws by overturning Plessy vs. Ferguson.
The Justices agreed to hear both arguments of the case. The NAACP recruited Marshall Thurgood, a future Court Justice, to represent them. On December 8, 1953, Thurgood argued that segregation and inequality were equivalent concepts. The segregation policy allowed by the decision of the Plessy v. Ferguson case was indistinguishable from the Black Codes. The Fourteenth Amendment had stripped the states of power to enforce these Co...
After the Plessy vs Ferguson verdict a lot of civil rights activists were outraged. A prominent African American group rose and fought against racial discrimination. The National Association of the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) fought against many different racial cases. For example, George McLaurin was accepted to a doctrine program at the University of Oklahoma("HISTORY OF BROWN V. BOARD OF EDUCATION") . However, McLaurin was asked by the University that he had to sit apart from the class and eat at a separate time than the whites. McLaurin was confused about this and hired Thurgood Marshall from the NAACP to help him defend his rights. Thurgood Marshall fought for McLaurin...
In 1926, Henry Sweet, a 21 year-old black man, was put on trial for the shooting murder of a white man who was invading Sweets’ brother’s family home. Clarence Darrow, seen, as the spokesman for the underdog was Sweet’s attorney. In his many decades as an attorney Darrow defended over a hundred people on death row for murder, never once losing - Henry Sweets’ case was no exception.
In 1528, African Texans had begun to arrive. From 1821 to the Texas Revolution of 1836 slavery had began to grow. By 1860 30 percent of Texas Population was enslaved. In 1861 of February, Texas voted for secession. But freedom didn’t come until June 19, 1865. There as an organization formed to fight for equality rights of African Americans. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded in 1909. In 1950, African Texans had won a major case that eliminated segregation in the South’s graduate and professional schools. The Sweatt v. Painter case was make a case by Thurgood Marshall and William J. Durham both member of the NAACP. They obtained the University of Texas Law School to accept black students. Another case was the Brown v. Board of Education it was filed against Topeka, Kansas School board by Oliver Brown a parent of one of the students who was African American. It brought about desegregation of schools. There is no doubt that these two cases were a struggle for racial equality in
Martin Luther King, Jr., overcame struggles during his time which were, racism, discrimination and segregation. He was not always named Martin and neither was his father. Around the first time Martin, Jr., got baptized him and his father changed their names from Michael to Martin. King was born on January 15, 1929. He died on April 4, 1968. Martin graduated with a bachelor's degree in divinity studies. He then enters Boston University. Not to long after that did he marry Corrette Scott in Marion, Alabama, on June 18, 1953. He had three kids by the names of Yolanda Denise, Martin Luther King the third, Bernice Albertina and Dexter Scott. All during this time colored people are being discriminated against and Martin wants to put a stop to it. Because of his acts to stop racism his birthday was made a national holiday on November 2, 1983.
The early backgrounds of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. had major impact on their goal to achieve equality between all races. Martin Luther King, Jr. was born Michael Luther King in Atlanta, Georgia on January 15, 1929. He was one of three children born to Martin Luther King Sr., pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church, and Alberta King, a former schoolteacher. Malcolm X was born Malcolm Little on May19, 1925 in Omaha, Nebraska. His mother, Louise Norton Little, was a homemaker who stayed occupied with the family’s eight children. His father, Earl Little, was an outspoken Baptist minister and avid supporter of Black Nationalist leader Marcus Garvey. King attended segregated local public grammar schools in Georgia and graduated from high school at the age of fifteen after being skipped two grade levels. King then enrolled in Morehouse University in 1944 and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in sociology. He furthered his education after Morehouse at Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania and at Boston University, earning his doctorate. X attended reform school in Michigan after the death of his father. Malcolm dropped out of school after graduating from junior high school at the top of his class.
Many challenges had to be faced during the Civil Rights movement of the 1950’s; one of those challenges being the case of Brown v. Board of Education, which tested the ruling in the case of Plessy v. Ferguson back in the year 1896 proclaiming segregation to be constitutional as long as it was “separate but equal”. In this particular case, Thurgood Marshall claimed that forcing African Americans to used separate education facilities was violating the 14th Amendment which gave the right of equality to all citizens under the law of the United States.
Marshall graduated from Lincoln University in Pennsylvania in 1930. Afterward, Marshall wanted to apply to his hometown law school at the University of Maryland School of Law, but the dean told him that he shouldn't bother because he would not be accepted due to the school's segregation policy. Later, as a civil rights litigator, he successfully sued the school for this policy in the case of Murray v. Pearson. Instead, Marshall sought admission and was accepted at Howard University. He was influenced by its dynamic new dean, Charles Hamilton Houston, who instilled in his students the desire to apply the tenets of the Constitution to all Americans.