Essay on Thurgood Marshall's Fight for Equality

Marshall will be remembered for all his efforts in trying to put an end to racial segregation. He spent considerable time to work the Supreme Court to end the lasting legacy of slavery in the US. Quite evidently, he worked for the good of American society. Thurgood never wanted to lead protests but to peaceably pioneer civil rights movements. He found he was achieving a long-held ambition which placed him in the lead of the social revolution to end racial segregation. (4, 67) For this reason his life became very important in shaping the American society today. He also did many important things as a judge. He fought for individual rights and equality. His efforts helped to put an end to all racial segregation and discrimination against all African Americans in this country. Marshall did not only fight for equality in his fellow Africans, but also put important decisions as a Supreme Court judge regarding the environment, the right of appeal of people convicted of drug charges, failure to report for and to serve in the armed forces, and the rights of the Native Americans – only to state a few.

In the postwar years, the NAACP's legal strategy for civil rights continued to succeed. They were now led by Thurgood Marshall. The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments on five cases that challenged elementary- and secondary-school segregation, and in May

In 1951 schools were separated by skin color, or segregated. The Brown v. Board of Education trial was brought to court because a third-grader, Linda Brown, was not allowed to attend the elementary school that was closest to her house. She wa required to take the bus to school across town instead. In the trial the point that “Education for Negroes is almost nonexistent(13).” This is an example of how there were old problems in the Fourteenth Amendment that needed to be changed. Another issue that was brought up in the trial was that, “Segregation… has a tendency to retard the educational and mental development of negro children…(19).” Without the proper education at segregated

Thurgood Marshall is the first African American who joined the supreme court justice. This action lead to various amounts of segregation being extinct to society. There are numerous of people that still believe racism is in the air. Racism is mostly caused from white citizens being mean to African Americans. Marshall’s lifespan changed society past, present, and probably future.

The arguments against segregation were presented by Thurgood Marshall, James Narbit Jr. and George Hayes. The lawyers claimed Separate but Equal Doctrine was violated and that Plessy was unconstitutional in the first place, as it violated the right of equal protection. Also, psychological

Throughout the 20th century, Thurgood Marshall blazed the trail for the Civil Rights Movement from two sides of the American Legal System, both as a lawyer, and as a Justice of the Supreme Court. Marshall’s initial rise to fame came as a result of his success as the head lawyer for the Brown family in Brown vs. The Board of Education.

By 1934 Thurgood begins work for The NAACP. In 1935 Thurgood and his friend and mentor Charles Huston won their first civil rights case Murray v. Pearson. Today most Afro Americans don't realize how important a role Thurgood played in shaping the legal precedents for school segregation. Thurgood hated the ideal of our young and proud Afro Americans boys and girls having to travel outside their school districts just to attend colored schools, because their local elementary and high schools were not segregated. . Thurgood fought hard and vigorously to bring about a change in elementary and high school segregation. In 1954 Thurgood conquers a big milestone in winning his famous case Brown v. The Board of Education, of Topeka Kansas. The United States Supreme Court ruled that all elementary and high schools will be segregated. From 1940-1960s Thurgood's name became a main stayed within the Afro American Communities. Afro Americans from many cities would call upon Thurgood for his services. Thurgood would work for free, just to help and defend his people. Then in February 1955 Thurgood's wife Vivan became very ill from cancer, and she eventually died. Thurgood was so saddened that he remained single for two years. Thurgood then met and eventually married his second wife Cecilia Suyat. (Born as a Philippine). Cecilia was a secretary for The NAACP Office. Thurgood and Cecilia had two sons: Thomas Jr. and John. Thurgood's biggest

"Thurgood Marshall was a rebel."(1) His method of activism differed from those of other civil rights leaders of the time. By addressing the courts and using his legal expertise, Marshall was able to have a more direct influence on society and the way government was treating blacks at the time. His use of the of the courts led to rulings that deemed the exclusion of blacks from primary elections, the use of racial profiling in terms of housing, the "separate but equal" mentality concerning working facilities and universities, and especially the segregation of elementary schools unconstitutional. With a resume like that it is no wonder he is still considered one of the most influential of the civil rights

What I find astonishing is how the justices chose to have a unanimous agreement on the desegregation of schools, because they reached the conclusion that a dissenting opinion could act as a way to legitimize segregation, despite their actual ruling. For me it was a tough decision between Inez Prosser, and Kenneth and Mamie Clark; but ultimately what made Dr. Clark into being my top choice, were the results of her dissertation. Her study claimed that there was a positive correlation between segregation and the development black children. To me this result was fascinating, as child of two African parents, I never thought that there would be a benefit of purposely exiling one’s self from other races and

Thurgood Marshall is a man that went to court for colored kids and white kids to got to the same school. He went to court in October 1967 and won the trial in 1991.

The intellectual roots of Plessy v. Ferguson, the landmark United States Supreme Court decision upholding the constitutionality of racial segregation in 1896 under the doctrine of "separate but equal" were, in part, tied to the scientific racism of the era.[32][33] However, the popular support for the decision was more likely a result of the racist beliefs held by many whites at the time.[34] In deciding Brown v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court rejected the ideas of scientific racists about the need for segregation, especially in schools. The Court buttressed its holding by citing (in footnote 11) social science research about the harms to black children caused by segregated schools.

The black freedom struggle has not yet come to an end – there are still prejudiced and racist radicals that try to negotiate white supremacy and dominance in order to prevent the blacks from their long wait for equality. Consequently, the movement has progressed very sluggishly in the past few centuries. Nevertheless, the campaign for equal rights has led to the triumph over slavery and has led to the accrual of suffrage rights. However, this is still not enough, not after centuries of enslavement, lynching, segregation, and discrimination. Oftentimes, there is still no justice in court houses, especially when black people are accused and convicted, even for the simplest of crimes – as compared to the white and powerful who are charged for heinous misconducts and get away scratch free. Hence, throughout the period of the Blacks’ long fight for freedom and equality, several Black intellectuals have come front with ideas that could administer better treatment for their people. A good strategy to encourage the black populace to fight for their freedom and their rights is by inverting popular ideas so that there is a clear distinction between the reasonable and unreasonable notions of equality and justice. Thus, it was not uncommon for these literati to undermine dominant discourses in order to bolster their own analyses. Among the discussed black intellectuals who inverted prevailing dissertations, three that stood out the most are Frederick Douglass, Anna Julia Cooper, and

Marshall was the country’s first Supreme Court Justice. Marshall aided in the demise of legal segregation in America. Broking the color lines, which changed housing, transportation and voting. Marshall ruled the Supreme Court case of Brown vs. Board of Education, which ended the separation of black and white children in schools. The NAACP continues to pursue the elimination of racial hatred and racial discrimination by providing services such as legal aid and educational services. The organization has expanded one’s efforts with local chapters in almost every one of the 50 states in America. African-Americans continued to encounter unfair and unjust treatment. In 1955, Rosa Parks’ refusal to give up one’s bus seat to a white person led to the birth of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. One’s courageous stand led to many others worldwide fight against racial injustice. The controversial actions of the 60s Civil Rights Movement led groups to make stand for one’s personal causes and sufferings.

Education was one of things that every parent wanted for their children regardless of whatever situation they were in. Public schools were segregated. In 1954 there was a lawsuit that ended legal segregation in public schools known as Brown V. Board of Education. In the fall of 1950, the NAACP sued on behalf of third-grader Linda Brown of Topeka, Kansas (Gates, 2013, p.323). Brown’s parents lived near a white school and wanted their daughter to attend that school because it was closer to their home than any other school that was around them. Thurgood Marshall was one of the lawyers for the NAACP during the time and argued that segregation condemns children, thinking that they lower than the whites that the Court had supposedly threw out in the Plessy case. The Court also heard from other families that were going through the same situation as Brown. May 17th, 1954, the Court ruled in favor of the black students. This decision allowed blacks to attend any public school that they

This was until the Oliver Brown case; Oliver Brown had enough of sending his daughter an unnecessary distance to attend a Black School, when there was a White School nearby. He decided to take his case to the Supreme Court, with the help of his Black lawyer, Thurgood Marshall and the added support of the NAACP group, his case was a success. The fact that his case was lead by a black lawyer was unusual making the success even more celebratory. In 1954, segregated schools were declared to be illegal by the Supreme Court. With the new Supreme Court ruling many states gradually integrated their schools, giving Black Americans a better chance at a substantial education.