Thurgood Marshall

C H A P T E R 1 EQUAL JUSTICE UNDER LAW O n the cold morning of December 8, 1953, attorney Thurgood Marshall climbed a flight of white marble steps in Washington, D.C. Halfway up the stairs, the tall, dark-skinned lawyer glanced upward. He could see four familiar words carved across the front of the huge white building: Equal Justice Under Law. Marshall intended to make those words a reality. Striding between the imposing columns, Marshall entered the United States Supreme Court. He laid his bulging briefcase on a table and drew a deep breath. Today, Marshall would offer his final arguments in the most important case of his distinguished career. If he won, the United States Supreme Court would rule that America’s long-entrenched, segregated school systems were unconstitutional . If he lost, most of America’s black children would continue to receive second-rate educations in substandard, ill-equipped schools.

C H A P T E R 1 : E q U A L J U S T I C E U N D E R L Aw

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