Thurgood Marshall: Civil Rights Activist

Ferguson had an unbelievable amount to do with the case of Brown v. Board of Education. The court case, involving Brown v. Board of Education took place in the year 1954. It was filed against the Topeka , Kansas school bored by Oliver Brown who was a parent to a child that was denied admission at a white school in Topeka. Brown argued that the racial segregation in Topeka disobeys the constitutions Equal Protection Clause. He states this because he did not believe that Topeka’s white schools and black schools were equal.

Thurgood Marshall was the first African American to serve on the U.S. Supreme Ccourt. Thurgood Marshall was known “Mr. Civil Rights” because of his court battles against racism and segregation. HeThurgood Marshall was also known as the greatest civil rights lawyer of all time. Thurgood Marshall also lead the Brown v. Board of Education case in 1954, in which the cCourt ruled that segregation in the public schools is prohibited by the constitution. Marshall also created the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) legal defense and eEducational fund.

As the quote reads above, we often only remember Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X and tend to forget about Thurgood Marshall who also and important figure of the civil rights movement as Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X were. Thurgood Marshall was the first black supreme court justice. Marshall was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1908. In his college years he went to the historically black Lincoln University. After, he applied at University of Maryland Law School but was denied because he was black.

Thurgood Marshall was instrumental in ending legal segregation and became the first African-American justice of the Supreme Court. Born on July 2, 1908, in Baltimore, Maryland, Thurgood Marshall studied law at Howard University. As counsel to the NAACP, he utilized the judiciary to champion parity for African Americans. In 1954, he won the Brown v. Board of Inculcation case, in which the Supreme Court ended racial segregation in public schools. Marshall was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1967, and accommodated for 24 years.

However, in 1896 Judge Ferguson of the Supreme Court ruled that Louisiana had the right to regulate railroads within state borders and created a “separate but equal” rule that lay the groundwork for future segregation. This shaped America’s future by aggravating the racial discrimination between blacks and whites. Specifically, laws were passed to keep blacks separate from whites in all sections of society, including education, restrooms, hotels, public transportation, and even cemeteries. Blacks were denied the right to vote and even had a curfew in some places. In summary, this court decision significantly worsened race relations and progress in society for many decades.

During Thurgood Marshall’s work in the Civil Rights Movement he said, “The goal of a true democracy such as ours, explained simply, is that any baby born in these United States… is endowed with the exact same rights as a child born to a Rockefeller,” (Adelman). During his work in the judicial system, first as a civil rights lawyer and then as a judge, Marshall strived to work towards a democracy focused on equality eventually becoming known as “Mr. Civil Rights,” (Archer). Although Marshall is primarily remembered for working towards African American rights as a Supreme Court Justice, Marshall strived for equal citizenship under the law for all people. Many of Marshalls ideas mentioned in his dissents stem from the lessons and ideas he learned early on from his parents and mentors during his childhood and college years. In his work in the Civil Rights

Moreover, he was involved in the Dred Scott court case. During the Dred Scott Decision, the Supreme Court denied African Americans citizenship in America regardless of whether they were free or

There are many men and women who are responsible for there being equal opportunities for all, and Thurgood Marshall is one of them. Thurgood Marshall’s drive for equal opportunities for all humans led to better changes to the system and easier lives for African Americans and all citizens. Not often that someone’s dream of happiness is to help others; generally it may to be the best at something or to be known throughout the world. However,

Thurgood Marshall, Roy Wilkins, A. Philip Randolph, Rosa Parks, Dr. Martin L. King, Jr., among others, have become household names as pioneers of the Civil Rights Movement. Mention of Thurgood Marshall immediately conjures in mind the historic United States Supreme Court Case, Brown vs. Board of Education. A. Philip Randolph immediately reminds us of the “Second Emancipation Proclamation”, Executive Order 8802 which gave thousands of Negroes access to jobs in manufacturing plants receiving contracts from the defense department during World War II. Rosa Parks is inextricably associated in the minds of millions with the Montgomery Bus Boycott. And who cannot think of Dr. Martin L. King together with the March on Washington and

Famous civil rights activists and Baptist minister, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said “I look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character”. A person’s character is important when it comes to leadership, friendships, and relationships. Having character comes with trust, honesty, and heart. But, when people begin to burn down churches, lynching others, accusing innocent boys for rape or gunning down innocent people because of the color of their skin, something is wrong. Dr.King’s dream was unity between African Americans and whites.

Thurgood Marshalls most notible case was the Brown v Board case. This case lasted almost two years from 1952-1954. It was to fight the “seprate but equal” movement, in which, the school were separate but not equal. Examples are the education, quality of school, transportation and overcrowding. How Marshall helped in this case was by personally argueing it before the court to help turn heads on the case.

The 15th Amendment (Amendment XV), which gave African-American men the right to vote, was inserted into the U.S. Constitution on March 30, 1870. Passed by Congress the year before, the amendment says, “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” Although the amendment was passed in the late 1870s, many racist practices were used to oppose African-Americans from voting, especially in the Southern States like Georgia and Alabama. After many years of racism, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 aimed to overthrow legal barricades at the state and local levels that deny African-Americans their right to vote. In the

Starting in the late 1800’s African Americans would come to Oklahoma and Indian Territory to escape discrimination and Jim Crow Law, or law persecuting African Americans. Oklahoma had no laws discriminating against them, but in 1907 when Oklahoma Territory and Indian Territory would combine because of the Enabling Act of 1906 they would become a state and that would change. Charles Haskell first law he would pass, Senate Bill #1, would be a Jim Crow Law requiring the segregation of train cars and stations. After this law many more would be passed such as: Segregating schools, restaurants, neighborhoods, water fountains, and other public facilities. Although, Oklahoma is not in the Deep South, Oklahomans helped contribute to the civil rights

Thurgood Marshall was born on July 2, 1908. In 1930 he states for to the University of Maryland Law School but was denied because of him being black. However years later when he applied to Howard University when he graduated, he opens up a small law practice in Baltimore. Marshall won the first Major case in civil rights was due to the precedent of Plessy v Ferguson where it states racial segregation laws for public facilities under the doctrine of "separate but equal", where he sued University of Maryland Law School to admit a young African American named Donald Gaines Murray. With his well-known skills as a lawyer and his passion for the civil rights Marshall because the chief of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People,

On the other hand, Thurgood fought many cases as a well-renowned attorney to get justice for many people. His resilient arguments and persistence caused various wins. “Marshall served as a leader during the civil rights movement, as an architect of the legal strategy that ended racial segregation, and as the first African-American Justice of the Supreme Court” (Gale). Marshall stood as a platform for upcoming African-American attorneys. He set the standards high when he argued a record-breaking 32 cases and was the first African-American Justice of the Supreme