How Did The Marshall Contribute To The Civil Rights Movement

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During the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s, African Americans were seeking the right to gain equal rights. This movement was a pivotal point in black history and helped black Americans realize how powerful their voices were. Various methods were utilized in gaining equal rights: a non-violent approach as demonstrated by such leaders as Martin Luther King Jr, Rosa Parks and Thurgood Marshall and a more violent approach as displayed by Malcom X and the Black Panther Party. The question is what approach was most effective with achieving equality. This could be determined by examining their beliefs towards the Civil Rights Movement, any significant contributions and positive effects on equality for the future. Despite their different …show more content…

These educational institutions were supposed to be equal, but everyone knows they were anything but equal. Education in black schools lacked the resources that the white schools had. Some schools did not have books or proper teachers while others had school buildings that were in very poor condition. The NAACP participated in various court cases in order to improve education for black Americans. Thurgood Marshall was born on July 2, 1908, in Baltimore, Maryland. He was an important figure during the civil right movement especially when it came to education. Marshall entered as the first black Supreme Court Justice of the United States of America. Perhaps he is most famously known for his victory in the case Brown v. the Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. Marshall argued that segregated schools harmed black students by making them feel inferior to white students. He believed this ultimately impacted their ability to learn and grow academically. He felt there could never be “separate but equal” because essentially being separate meant unequal. On May 17, 1954, the Court unanimously ruled that “separate but equal” in public schools for blacks and whites were unconstitutional. This case ended segregation in schools across the nation. The Brown case served as a catalyst for the modern civil rights movement, inspiring education reform everywhere. Unfortunately, the court did not provide specifics in the case surrounding when segregation would actually end or how this desegregation would take place. This proved to be challenging when black students attempted to integrate into white public schools. Nonetheless, this was a huge milestone and continues to this