The Contributions of Thurgood Marshall to Civil Rights Overview 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 …show more content…
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 …show more content…
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. Conclusion Many African Americans have contributed to the development of criminal justice field by their legal endeavors. One of these individuals is Thurgood Marshall, who played a role in desegregation in American public schools and became the first African American attorney to win a Supreme Court case. His major contributions in this field were mainly through his civil right activism while at NAACP. In particular, Marshall’s successful intervention in defending the three men involved in the Brown Supreme Court decision made him one of the greatest African American
The Plessy vs. Ferguson (1896) ‘equal but separate’ decision robbed it of its meaning and confirmed this wasn’t the case as the court indicated this ruling did not violate black citizenship and did not imply superior and inferior treatment ,but it indeed did as it openly permitted racial discrimination in a landmark decision of a 8-1 majority ruling, it being said was controversial, as white schools and facilities received near to more than double funding than black facilities negatively contradicted the movement previous efforts on equality and maintaining that oppression on
Homer Plessy vs. the Honorable John H. Ferguson ignited the spark in our nation that ultimately led to the desegregation of our schools, which is shown in the equality of education that is given to all races across the country today. “The Plessy decision set the precedent that ‘separate’ facilities for blacks and whites were constitutional as long as they were ‘equal’” (“The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow”). The case of Plessy vs. Ferguson not only illuminated the racial inequality within our education system, but also brought to light how the standard of ‘separate but equal’ affected every aspect of African American lives.
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 utilized the judiciary system to advocate equality for African Americans during the Civil Right movement. He fought fearlessly to extend equality to the most disadvantaged citizen. Also, Thurgood was invited to visit Kenya and England to help draft a constitution for the soon to be republic of Kenya which included safety measures for the rights of the white minority. Furthermore, when Marshall was appointed as the 96th judge of the Supreme Court, he became the first African-American appointed to the Supreme Court. While it is true that Justice Marshall was a Civil Right advocate, he did supported the Vietnam War. On August 4, 1973, the case Schlesinger v. Holtzman, Justice Marshall declined to order the military to stop bombing
The request for an injunction pushed the court to make a difficult decision. On one hand, the judges agreed with the Browns; saying that: “Segregation of white and colored children in public schools has a detrimental effect upon the colored children...A sense of inferiority affects the motivation of a child to learn” (The National Center For Public Research). On the other hand, the precedent of Plessy v. Ferguson allowed separate but equal school systems for blacks and whites, and no Supreme Court ruling had overturned Plessy yet. Be...
Thurgood Marshall was born on July 2, 1908. Mr. Marshall rose from a segregated childhood. He had a mother, Norma, and a father, William. Norma was a an elementary school teacher and William was employed by the railroad. His mother and father taught Marshall to be proud of his race. He fought for the rights of blacks but never became racist himself. Marshall was taught to do great things and have commitment to his work.
Thurgood Marshall was born on July 2, 1908 in Baltimore, Maryland. His mother was a teacher, and his father was a steward. His father was the origination of Marshall’s later life in law. Every day after work, his father would listen to the cases at the local courthouse. He would bring home all the details and discuss it with the children. It was this discussion (arguments if one would ask Thurgood) that stemmed his attention to the law. Growing
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 born July 2, 1908, Baltimore, MD.Thurgood Marshall was a African American hero what he did for colored people was amazing he fought to he couldn't no more. He was the first African American to have a case in a Supreme Court.
Thurgood Marshall was an American lawyer, serving as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from October 1967 until October 1991. Marshall was born July 2, 1908 in Baltimore,MD. Thurgood Marshall was a descendant from slaves from both sides of his family. Thurgood also known as “Thoroughgood” was his original name but he shortened it to his known name Thurgood. Thurgood’s father William Marshall worked as a railroad porter, and his mother Norma worked as teacher. As a young boy Thurgood’s mother and father instilled in him an appreciation for the U.S. Constitution and the Rule of law. Marshall went to Henry Highland Garnet School as a kid then, attended at Frederick Douglass High School, and was placed in a class with really smart kids. Marshall graduated in 1925 with a B-grade average, Marshall placed
Thurgood Marshall was born on July 2, 1908 in Baltimore, Maryland, and studied law at
Even though racism has always been a problem since the beginning of time, recently in the United States, there has been a rise in discrimination and violence has been directed towards the African American minority primarily from those in the white majority who believe they are more superior, especially in our criminal justice system. There are many different reasons for the ethnic disparities in the criminal justice system between the majority and the minority, but some key reasons are differential involvement, individual racism, and institutional racism to why racial disparities exist in
From the mid 1800’s to the mid 1900’s African Americans endured relentlessness racism. White supremacists dehumanized African Americans in almost all aspects of their life. The hate sparked intelligent leaders to stand against the south and resist the racism. Of these important Civil Rights figures, Charles Hamilton Houston (1895-1950), an attorney and law professor at Howard University instructed a generation of black lawyer activists to defend equal rights for all. Houston wrote, “Need for Negro Lawyers,” and “Negro Separate Schools,” to explain his views and goals in regards to Civil Rights activism. He elucidated blacks capabilities and fought oppression through education.
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.
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...