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Trevor Novak
3/12/2014
Research Paper
Clarence Thomas was a judge and lawyer, and it was very difficult for him to become both of these. Clarence is still important today because he is one of the Supreme Court Judges and is the second black judge to ever be elected judge.
Clarence Thomas was born June 23, 1948. He was not born in a hospital, but at home by a mid-wife. Clarence was only two when his dad left him and divorced his mom, Leola Thomas. Leola was only eighteen when Clarence was born. When his dad left, his mom took him, his older sister, and his younger brother from Pin Point, Georgia to Savannah, Georgia. His mother sent him to his grandfathers which is why he likes his grandfather so much today. His grandfather taught him to work hard and make something of himself. “I put my grandfather up there so he would be looking down at me while I’m working.” (Source #4) Clarence has a bronze statue of his grandfather Myers Anderson in his office at the Supreme Court and the statue looks down on Clarence while he works at his desk to remind him to keep working hard. Clarence’s grandfather also wanted him to become a priest. Clarence grew up in a community without paved roads or a sewage system. One time, Clarence came home with his face bloody. His mom asked what happened and he said that some kids jumped on him and beat him up while a teacher watched.
Clarence attended St. Benedict’s School in Savannah, which was a school for black boys and was run by Franciscan nuns. Clarence respected the sometime, harsh discipline from the priests and nuns because, he recalled, “It was a world of order, and that’s exactly what we needed, because there was chaos all around us.” (Source #4) He liked the nuns and pr...
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...larence Thomas would be involved with many cases such as no prayers at high school graduations. In another case, the Court ruled that race could not be the reason in choosing a jury. The part of his job that Clarence enjoyed the most was being able to talk to students from the youngest all the way up to college Seniors.
Clarence Thomas grew up in a very small town and came from a poor family and neighborhood. He learned early on from his grandfather that he would have to work hard to get somewhere in life and that things are never given to you. Hard work was reinforced by the nuns and in the Catholic schools in Savannah where Clarence became a good student and athlete. He also worked hard to graduate from school and become an attorney. Later, he would apply everything he learned to become the second black judge ever to be elected on the Supreme Court.
More interestingly, Justice Thomas is also a trustee at his alma mater, The College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA (Belluck). Prior to serving as the Chief Justice of the United States, Roberts served in many positions within the legal field. Upon graduation from Harvard Law School, he served as a law clerk for Judge Henry Friendly on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. After about a year, he clerked for the future Chief Justice, William Rehnquist; who at the time was an Associate Justice.... ...
At the age of thirteen he began working in order to earn money for college. He was a shoe shiner, an elevator boy, and a paper boy. He attended the all-black Armstrong High School, where he acted in plays, was a sergeant in the Cadet Corps, and earned good grades, graduating at the age of 16.
At 22, after two-thirds of a year at Berea College in West Virginia, he returned to the coalmines and studied Latin and Greek between trips to the mineshafts. He then went on to the University of Chicago, where he received bachelors and master's degrees, and Harvard University, where he became the second black to receive a doctorate in history.
During his early life, John Roberts was the ideal student by displaying hard work and dedication in all of his studies and also participating in school sports such as wrestling and football where he was given the honor to be captain of the team. He was also very successful in college after graduating from Harvard College and Harvard Law both with honors. Many can find the present Chief of Justice as admirable considering all of his successes in college and how it is understandable that someone with that type of background deserves a position in the supreme court.
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
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 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
Hannon, Michael. "Clarence Darrow - Timeline of His Life and Legal Career." University of Minnesota Law Library, n.d.
The argument structure of the text is well orginized and very clear to understan. It contains lots of logical reasoning which you can see later in history really helps African-Americans become equal in society. The argument was also very well supported and gave lots og good reasoning to what and why they wanted that. Thomas Jerffersons quote "We hold these truthes to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness." This quote later helps the freedom of slaves and them becoming equal human beings in society and are able to vote and have all the same right as white people and also means no more segragation.
After becoming Chief Justice Marshall was asked by the nephew of George Washington, Bush rod Washington, to write the official biography. This was a task that Marshall was unprepared to do, having no knowledge of the difficulties in researching and writing a biography, but he needed the financial return that was expected. The five volume biography took over four years to write and met with a very mixed and critical reception. It is hard to imagine what course the nation would have followed without the mind of Marshall at the helm. For it was his mind, his power of reason and understanding of the new form of government which his peers had created, that still stands the test of time by the adherence to precedents he set. His biographer, Jean Edward Smith, fully aware of the founding fathers he alluded to, states that Marshall "possessed the best-organized mind of his generation." Thomas Jefferson too, though often at odds with Marshall, conceded that "you must never give him an affirmative answer or you will be forced to grant his conclusion. Why, if he were to ask me if it were daylight or not, I'd reply, 'sir, I don't know, I can't tell."
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.
One man envisioned a world free of persecution, where all men were created equal while being governed by respected leaders guiding their country to new heights. Thomas Jefferson, one of the most influential founding fathers of America, was a Democratic-Republican who loved to read and write eventually inspiring the draft of The Declaration of Independence after being elected in one of the most crucial votes in American history. In a time where our country was being transformed, Jefferson molded it in ways that had never been done before. He put freedom of the people before the government, their future leaders would be elected upon popular vote not through family relations. He created the foundation for what would would be one of the most powerful countries to date.
Jesse Jackson Jr. is a former Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois's second district. Jackson held the position for over seventeen years. Jackson comes from a family just like Ford that has strong ties to the black establishment. Jackson is the son of Jesse Jackson Sr, a civil rights activist, former candidate for the Democratic presidential, and a shadow U.S. Senator for the District of Columbia. By Jackson being the son of a former activist he might have a low crossover appeal like his father. For instance, they might see him as being just like his father putting his ties to the black community before other ethnics and races, which can be a problem. His strong connection may come off as a threat, which is understandable. I feel like who will want someone in power if you
However, bias towards particular persons and issues as well as the desire to garner the most viewers, often results in deceit and misrepresentation. Over time, the media’s initial purpose and goal, to inform the masses, has been lost. In its place, a technology-based lynch mob has emerged, with the lives of celebrities and politicians at its mercy. An alleged late twentieth-century incident of high-tech lynching involved the case of politician, Clarence Thomas. Thomas, appointed to the Supreme Court by President George Bush in 1991, was at the center of media frenzy when law professor, Anita Hill, accused Thomas of sexual harassment. It was Thomas’s word against Hill and though Thomas was confirmed as an associate Supreme Court justice, the lasting implications of the scandal follow both him and Hill to this day