Today, I am thankful for those who remind us that equality only comes in one variety. In other words, equal means equal, nothing more and nothing less.
When my family moved to Jacksonville, Florida, in 1979, this wide-eyed boy of 11 did not know what was about to hit him. Prior to the move, life in New Jersey was relatively simple. I lived in what I believed was an eclectic community filled with Italian, Irish, Greek, and Jewish families. All the neighborhood kids would walk to and from the local elementary school, which was located a stone’s throw from my family’s middle class home. However, in Jacksonville, the middle school I attended required I take a school bus every day from the suburb to downtown Jacksonville. This diverse experience enriched my mind and afforded me a fuller appreciation of life beyond the suburbs. In retrospect, I realize I was the product of an integrated school system where children of various colors, ethnicities, and creeds were given the same opportunity to succeed. Today, I’m a better person because of this experience, and I attempt to institute a diversity and inclusivity mindset in my daily interactions in the office, at home, and in the community.
Many of us sometimes forget that when the Civil War came to a close in 1865, the only practice that truly ended was the practice of slavery. The war did not end discrimination; in fact, for nearly 9 decades thereafter, racially segregated public facilities became the norm. Unfortunately, an 1896 US Supreme Court ruling of Plessy vs. Ferguson permitted the precedent of “separate but equal” services. In turn, ‘Jim Crow’ laws flourished across the US, barring African Americans from sharing the same schools, buses, and even water fountains. However, one visionary lawyer was instrumental in changing the laws. Thurgood (short for Thoroughgood) Marshall was born in Baltimore, Maryland, as a descendant of slaves. After attending segregated schools and earning his law degree, he practiced a few years in private law before ultimately becoming a founding member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Defense and Education Fund. During his 25-year career with the NAACP, he argued many civil rights cases before the US Supreme Court against discriminatory practices, including Chambers vs. Florida, Shelley vs. Kraemer, and the now-famous Brown vs. the Board of Education. In this last case, Marshall maintained that the state of Kansas, by denying Linda Brown’s entry into an all-white elementary school, violated the 14th Amendment claim that no state could “deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” In other words, he argued that “separate but equal” was in and of itself unequal. On this day (May 17) in 1954, the Supreme Court agreed in favor of the plaintiff, and they did so unanimously (9-0) for the sake of emphasis.
As Marshall so once aptly summarized his philosophy, “You do what you think it right and let the law catch up.” To this end, he knew that the outcome of the court proceeding was not enough. The Supreme Court ruling would not change practices until the passage of legislation with the Civil Rights Acts of 1964, 1965, 1968, and beyond.
Marshall would go on to become the first African American Supreme Court Justice in 1967, where he continued to embrace the practice of judicial activism. In his 25 years as a US Supreme Court justice, he’s fittingly remembered for his jurisprudence on issues such as civil rights, criminal procedure, and protection of liberties for all Americans.
Today, I grateful for all Justice Marshall taught me about equality. I’m also thankful for all I’ve learned from own personal experiences of an integrated school system.
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