Thurgood Marshall's Influence

Thurgood Marshall was a great African American Civil Rights activist who changed a lot of lives in the United States. As a passionate lawyer and prominent Supreme Court justice he fought for Civil Rights and social justice in the courts and believed that racial integration is best for all schools. Very early in his professional life Marshall broke down racial barriers and overcame resistance despite the odds. He then became a role model of the disciplined leader, although he didn’t have the religious qualities or charisma as Martin Luther King. However, in terms of achievements, most of us would agree that he should be ranked next to Martin Luther King Jr. Thurgood was particularly famous for winning the Brown vs. Board of

There were many people throughout the history of the United States that helped to get equality for African Americans; however, one man's voice moved an entire race. That one man is Martin Luther King, Jr. He has a way of making you listen when he speaks and of making you understand his ideas. Many people did listen and he motivated a whole race of people to strive with him on his quest for equality. The events in his life from early life, civil rights, and later life led him to be one of the most powerful people in the movement towards civil rights.

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.

To begin with, Thurgood Marshall’s dedication was important in ending Jim Crow. He had a major role in the success of the NAACP. He stood right by Charles Houston’s side going through thick and thin. Marshall was sent all over the United States to fight court cases involving injustice for blacks. He himself was denied the right to attend at a law school because of his race. He led to the end of Jim Crow by fighting segregation cases for more than twenty years. Many of his cases involved integrating black and white schools or getting admission for denied black students. In his time, he won 29 out of the 32 cases he argued in front of the Supreme Court. All the rights that Thurgood Marshall had won for black people ended the long era of Jim Crow.

Marshall was the head lawyer in the Brown vs. Board of Education case in which he won proving that separate education facilities were inherently unequal. Thurgood Marshall’s 24 years on the supreme court allowed him to produce many changes at the highest level. During the later portion of his supreme court years, the court became incredibly conservative and he became unable to accomplish very much. Martin Luther King Jr. successfully lead the Montgomery Bus Boycott and showed how much value and power blacks had even in racist southern communities. His many speeches also fueled many people to seek change as they realized the extent of the inequalities faced by African Americans in society.s King did not have any failures so to speak but he was unable to see the full extent of the changes he created because he was assassinated before they all played out. Malcolm X accomplished lots for the African American and Muslim communities but he too was assassinated when he was so young that it is impossible to know what else he could have done had he have lived a full long

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.

During the 20th century I have read many books, newspaper articles and seen news broadcasts on two of the most famous Afro American Pioneers: Martin Luther King and Thurgood Marshall. Martin Luther King fought all his life for equal rights for Afro Americans, but Thurgood Marshall help elevate the Afro American civil rights struggles through legal precedents and timely court decisions. Thomas G. Kraftenmaker a professor of Constitutional law at Georgetown University Law Center wrote, "When I think of great American lawyers I think of Thurgood Marshall, Abe Lincoln and Daniel Webster". In this century only Earl Warren approaches Marshall. Thurgood Marshall is certainly the most important lawyer of the 20th century.

"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

Thurgood Marshall was significant as he was the first African-American to be appointed a position in the U.S Supreme Court, in 1967. His significance to civil rights is evident between 1947 and 1967, in one contemporary newspaper he was even referred to as “Mr Civil Rights”. In 1947-1961 Thurgood worked as the NAACP’s lawyer, where he argued his most famous cases – Brown v Topeka (1954) and Browder v Gayle (1956). Furthermore, the appointments by both, President John F. Kennedy and President Johnson, are significant in themselves because he was the first African-American to be appointed to the Supreme Court. Despite his influence on the civil rights movement, Thurgood took a lot of criticism which effected his attitudes towards other people involved with the civil rights movement and, in general.

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.

Finally, I will inform you about his legacy. Thurgood Marshall’s legacy still lives on today. Segregation is no longer present in today’s America, and he is a leader who helped change that. Racism is practically considered illegal, and it is definitely considered taboo. He greatly influenced the rise of African Americans in American culture and society. In the last years of his career, the judicial branch was taken over by conservatives, and after he retired in 1991, he became known as “the Great

EFFECTUATING EDUCATIONAL EQUALITY: THURGOOD MARSHALL When presenting the chief influencers of the civil rights movement, many would immediately think of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with his peaceful protests and empowering speeches that urged people to be calm and rational. Also, Malcolm X could be seen as a chief influencer because he called black people to action and told them to stand up for their rights. On the other hand, the judicial branch and the court systems are not normally considered the prime source of change in the civil rights movement. However, the principle decisions that changed civil rights history forever and greatly influenced equality were made almost exclusively in courthouses.

Thurgood Marshall used his role as leader of the NAACP legal defense and education fund to handle these cases through the years of 1952 and 1955. The cases first went through a three-judge panel in which the judges sided with the school boards. Since the plaintiff’s did not receive the answers they so desperately

Thurgood was mostly a follower that supported the president in may of the supreme court cases, and the president was the one who took a stand and changed america, not Thurgood. Thurgood mainly just helped the president take a stand, Thurgood didn’t do much to take a stand. If Thurgood did take a stand, then he would have made a better impact on segregation then he actually did. The other side says that Thurgood Marshall did take a stand. Thurgood did take a stand, but not much. He supported the president often during a bunch of Supreme court cases, he was the first black Supreme court justice, and Thurgood helped with a bit more before he “retired in 1991 and passed away on January 24, 1993.” Thurgood Marshall helped a bunch, but he didn’t really change the world or a country or

The life of Thurgood Marshall and the legacy that he abandoned has affected the present day U.S. Legal Branch today. He did numerous things throughout his life that were persuasive to the administration. He did as well as could be expected to end all racial isolation. He had worked inside the Supreme Court to end the enduring legacy of subjection in the nation. He additionally worked for the benefit of American culture (Haddock).