Thurgood Marshall: Powerful Advocate For Justice

Thurgood Marshall

The news that a film was being made in Western New York about the life and times of Thurgood Marshall motivated this columnist to write an article on his contributions to the civ il rights of African Americans. When I traveled to Washington, D.C. with the First Shiloh Baptist Church Travel Club several years ago, we visited Arlington National Cemetery, where Thurgood Marshall is buried across from the grave site of President John F. Kennedy.

I remember thinking how large and impressive his tombstone was, surrounded by colorful flowers. It seemed to say here lies a man of greatness. Thurgood Marshall was the first African American to be appointed to the Supreme Court of the United States. He was appointed to the Court in 1967 by President Lyn don Johnson. He began his journey up the federal judicial ladder on September 23, 1961, when President John F. Kennedy nominated him as a judge of the Second Court of Appeals.

Thurgood Marshall was born on July 2, 1908, in Baltimore, Maryland. His parents were William and Norma Marshall. His mother was a school teacher and his father worked as a waiter at an all-white private club. Thurgood Marshall credited his par ents with giving him a strong sense of confidence, African American pride, and personal dignity. Marshall attended public schools in Baltimore and earned his bachelor’s degree, cum laude, from Lincoln University in 1930.

At first he planned to study dentistry, but he changed course because of his father’s influence. He also remembered that as a child in school he used to act up and his teacher would punish him by making him read pas sages from the U.S. Constitution. He believed that this helped to lay the foundation for his interest in law. He went on the study law at Howard University. After he passed the Mary land Bar Exam he married Vivien G. Burney and set up his law practice. He became known as the “little man’s lawyer.” His clients were poor and often could not pay his fee.

He later became counsel for the Baltimore branch of the NAACP. In 1938, he became special counsel for the NAACP. He argued the case of Sweatt v. Painter, resulting in the ordering of the University of Texas Law School to admit Blacks. Mar shall co-founded the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund. Along with a group of lawyers he won 32 of 35 cases that they brought before the U.S. Supreme Court. By this time, Marshall had earned the nickname “Mr. Civil Rights.”

In the 1950’s, he was sent to Korea to investigate charges that the Army was discriminating against Blacks. Until 1964, he continued to argue cases that involved voting rights for Blacks, segregation on interstate buses, and the most famous case of all was Brown v. the Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas in 1954, which removed the legal basis for segregation in public schools.

Marshall was greatly influenced by the civil rights lawyer named Charles Houston. Marshall believed that the best way to challenge racists was in a court of law. He was the great “dissenter,” often standing alone or with a minority group of lawyers defending the rights or the poor and oppressed. He was gifted with words, reason, and sense of fair play. He was feared by those who were the enemies of justice. Thurgood Marshall lived from 1908 to 1993. He once said, “my commitments have always been to justice for all people, regardless of race, creed, or color.”

With the current administration in Washington, I am not sure if the monument in tribute to Thurgood Marshall is still in Arlington National Cemetery with all of the controversy surrounding the issue of Diversity. References made to African Ameri can history is still being ignored. However, I wanted to remember my trip and the importance of seeing the monument to Thurgood as one of the most significant part of our his tory. This columnist is dedicated to remembering our history and sharing it with as many people as possible!!