Data Bases • Custom Term Papers • Free Term Papers • Free Research Papers • Free Essays • Free Book Reports • Plagiarism? Links • Top 100 Term Paper Sites • Top 25 Essay Sites • Top 50 Essay Sites • Search 97,000 Papers @ DirectEssays.com • Search 101,000 Papers @ ExampleEssays.com • Search 90,000 Papers @ MegaEssays.com Free Essays • Term Paper Sites • Chuck III's Free Essays • Free College Essays • TermPaperSites.com • Free Essays • My Term Papers • Essay World • Planet Papers	Search Lots of Essays Back to Subjects - Government & Politics Thurgood Marshall Thurgood Marshall “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 activists. Thurgood Marshall was born in Baltimore, Maryland to an interracial family in an African American community who had been fighting for equal rights since the time of the Civil War. (1) His father, William Canfield Marshall, “was the first black person to serve on a grand jury in Baltimore in the twentieth century”. (2) His mother, Norma Arica Marshall, “was one of the first blacks to graduate from Columbia Teacher’s College in New York City”. (2) After graduating from an all black high school, Thurgood attended Lincoln University in Chester County, Pennsylvania, “the nation’s oldest historically black college.” (2) He was involved with many protests during his time at the university. After graduating he began studying at the Howard University Law School in Washington, D.C., “and graduated first in his class in 1933”. (2) After law school Marshall moved back to Baltimore and began his career as a lawyer with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. During his time with the NAACP he progressed through the organization, and found himself the position as the director and council for the Legal Defense and Education Fund, a position that he spent the next twenty years in. (1) During that time he argued thirty-two cases in front of the Supreme Court, and won an astonishing twenty-nine of them. Some of these cases had a significant impact on the livelihood of blacks living in America at that time and continue to effect their lives today. One of these cases was Smith v. Allwright. The outcome of this case declared that Texas’ exclusion of black voters from primary elections, known as the “White Primary”, unconstitutional. By winning this case Marshall not only paved the way for the removal of black voting laws, but he also made it public that the Supreme Court was no longer going to ignore the constitutional rights of African Americans, that had been discounted by state legislatures since the Civil War. In yet another governmental policy altering case Shelley v. Kraemer in 1948 the Supreme Court agreed with Marshall that courts could not enforce "restrictive covenants," private agreements not to sell land to blacks. (3) This time Marshall directed a blow at the state level courts, forcing them to become aware of the nation’s new found view of civil liberties. In Sweat v. Painter in 1950 and in Sipuel v. University of Oklahoma in 1948, Marshall won unanimous decisions declaring “separate but equal” facilities for black professionals as well as graduate students in state universities unconstitutional. (3) First the state legislatures, then the courts, and finally businesses and universities, Marshall’s voice and the voice of equality were heard. The most important decision won by Marshall was in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka in 1954. Although this case was directly focused on racial segregation in public schools, this decision laid the groundwork for the entire civil rights movement of the 1950’s and1960’s. Marshall Argued that the “equal protection clause” of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States requires that states treat all citizens alike, regardless of race. (4) Although precedent was against him, Marshall persuaded the court to unanimously declare segregation in public schools unconstitutional. Not only did this case win the fact that segregation is unconstitutional, but it made the opinion of the Supreme Court involving the “equal protection clause” obvious to the rest of society. In 1961 Thurgood Marshall was nominated to United States Court of Appeals. “From 1961 to 1965, he wrote 112 opinions on that court, none of which were overturned on appeal. In fact, several of his dissenting opinions were eventually adopted as majority opinions by the Supreme Court.” (1) In 1967 President Lyndon B. Johnson nominated Marshall to be the first African American to be a justice of the supreme court. Now after changing policy from the outside for over twenty years Marshall was going to making the decisions on the inside. There was no doubt that civil rights would get a fair hearing ever again. Thurgood Marshall was a giant in the crusade for civil rights and equal opportunity in the whole history of the world. “Although he can properly be called the architect of American race relations in the twentieth century, on the Court he was also a vigorous advocate for protection under the law for women, children prisoners, and the homeless.” (1) Being the epitome of an American social worker, Marshall has opened doors for African Americans as well as paved the way for social activism on the inside of the United States Government. The impact he has made on life in America will carry his legacy forever. Bibliography: Bibliography 1. GoAmerica: people, politics, and policy/ George C. Edwards III Martin P. Wattenberg, Robert L. Lineberry.—Brief version, 5th ed. http://encarta.msn.com/index/conciseindex/13/vernment in http://library.advanced.org/3337/tmarsh.html Word Count: 892
Copyright © 1998-2008 College Term Papers, INC All Rights Reserved. DMCA Notifications and Requests