No longer 'separate but equal' thanks to him

Human Quest, Sep/Oct 2002 by Rowan, Carl T

On the morning of Dec. 8, 1953, attorney Thurgood Marshall began final arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court on a case that would prove to have life-altering implications for the plaintiffs, social justice, civil rights and ultimately, the nation.

On May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court of the United States returned a unanimous decision, saying No to the idea that racially segregated schools could provide equal education for students of different races. Segregation as a whole was challenged.

This decision overturned the 1896 Supreme Court ruling in Plessy vs. Ferguson that on trains and other places of public accommodation, including schools, blacks could be restricted to "separate but equal" facilities.

The 14th Amendment victory in the high court was in contrast with the personal tragedy Marshall was facing, as his wife's illness became progressively worse.

After his magnificent victory, Marshall stopped traveling, even preparation of briefs, and stayed home to care for his wife. She died of cancer in February, 1953.

Nearly three years later he married Cecilia "Cissy" Suyat, a Filpina from Hawaii who had been a secretary with the NAACP. They had two sons, Thurgood Marshall, Jr., and John W. Marshall.

After Marshall's long and distinguished career as a lawyer, President John F. Kennedy in September 1961 appointed him to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York. There was heated opposition to his confirmation in the Senate by a number of Southern Democrats led by Strom Thurmond, but he was confirmed by 30 Democrats and 24 Republicans. While on that court for about 3 1/2 years, Marshall wrote 118 opinions.

Not one of them was reversed.

After Lyndon Johnson became President, he appointed Thurgood Marshall as Solicitor General of the United States. Marshall decided to accept the position, even though the salary was less and he was leaving a lifetime appointment.

The post of Solicitor General was far more influential, because he could decide what cases would be taken to the Supreme Court. Marshall served there from 1965 to 1967, when he was appointed by President Johnson as the first African American Justice of the Supreme Court.

While on the Supreme Court, Justice Marshall did more than uphold the equal rights of black Americans. He defended the right of criminal suspects to a competent lawyer, and a woman's right to decide whether to have an abortion, at least until viability of the fetus. He was especially concerned with defending such a right for poor women who could not afford another child or were unable to work without child care.

The reason Thurgood Marshall was one of the great civil rights leaders is his life-long commitment to changing laws that discriminate against blacks, and his success in doing that.

He litigated rather than demonstrated, as some other leaders did, and in so doing he enhanced racial equality in education, transportation, and other areas where racial minorities were excluded or treated as inferior.

Justice Marshall retired from the Supreme Court in June 1991 because of declining health. On January 24, 1993 he died at the age of 84. He will be remembered for his court victories and for his brilliant mind that led to those victories. He was so dedicated that during most of his life he lived in poverty and endured danger after danger in the pursuit of equal justice for human beings. E