Category: Thurgood Marshall

What defines an influential leader, is it a person who can rally the masses to fight for a cause in face of adversity or is someone who others inspire to be. Throughout history there have been many leaders who have made an impact on this world. From Alexander the Great to George Washington, every culture has those who have made an impacted that helped change their culture in in some shape or form. America is no different in Producing influential leaders. From the Founding Fathers to the Civil rights leaders and to those who can be considered to be the next influential leaders of today.

Take the History of African-American Leaders in America’s history. From originally coming to the U.S as slaves and indentured servants to becoming some of America’s greatest contributors. While there are many African Americans that can be considered influential or those who are considered to be of great renown, there is a certain criteria that separates the influential leaders in the African American community. “There are almost as many different definitions of leadership as there are persons who have attempted to define the concept” (Bass, 1990, p. 11). Despite there being a multitude of different ways on how leadership can be conceptualized, there are certain components people can identify as critical components to what leadership is. As defined by Peter G. Northouse,” (a) Leadership is a process, (b) leadership involves influence, (c) leadership occurs within a group context, and (d) leadership involves goal attainment.” By using these values, we can determine who in the African American community are influential leaders. W.E.B. Du Bois, Dr Martin Luthor King Jr., Malcom X and Thurgood Marshall are all considered to be some of the prominent influential African American leaders in America.

William Edward Burghardt Bois was a man who is considered to be one of the African American’s first influential leaders. As stated earlier, one of the characteristics of leadership is those who are involved in pursuing goals that seem impossible to reach. As the First African American to earn a Ph.D from Harvard university, Du Bois was one of the well-known speakers for African American rights after the Civil war. One of the ways he proved himself a leader was cofounding the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Du Bois was publicly vocal about demanding full equality for African Americans as stated by the 14th Amendment. Du Bois also was a scholar, writer, editor of The Crisis and other journals, a co-founder of the Niagara Movement and the Pan African Congresses. He also expressed the strivings of African Americans and established an analysis of the problem of the color line in the twentieth century. As a leader Du Bois was a supporter for both capitalism and economic nationalism, with him publicly urging African Americans to support African American Businesses. This shows that Du Bois was a man who believed that the African American Community could separate themselves from the dependence on an economy that was not benefiting them at all.

When one thinks of the most influential leaders in the African American community, Martin Luther King Jr. is the first one to come into mind. As one most prominent leaders during the civil rights movement, King used his power as a leader to support of non-violent protests and civil disobedience. One of Kings most famous examples of leadership was organizing the Montgomery Bus Boycott. King was elected the leader even though he was still fairly new. King’s skillful rhetoric was used to energize the Black Community into showing more support and participate in the boycott in Alabama. It was due to the Victory in Montgomery, King and other the leaders were able to push for a national organization to coordinate the civil rights movements across the United States. What made King a strong leader was that he had a clear idea of what he was fighting for. He was someone who did not join the civil rights movement as someone who was looking to become famous but joined the civil rights movement due to following set of principles in which he believed in. He was also a living example of what he taught. Due to him living his life they way he preached, his message was more credible to his followers, which in turn solidified his reputation as an influential leader. Another reason why King is to be considered a on inspirational leaders in the African American community is that his he was able to inspire change through his combination skills.

Typically, in our history classes, we were taught that the main revolutionary leader of the civil rights movement was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Though King was an outstanding leader and a key force during the civil rights movement, he wasn’t the only one. El Haj Malik El Shabaaz aka “Malcolm X” was another prominent leader if not one of the more controversial leaders in the African American community. Often portrayed as a militant pro-black leader, Malcom X was outspoken about the African American Community improving themselves while also becoming self-reliant. As a leader he was able to transcend his own prejudices and was able to let go of his own racism and become a human rights activist. He would also fight for having women take leadership positions in the African American community.

As the First African American Supreme Court justice, Thurgood Marshall is considered to be an integral leader who promoted racial equality. Thurgood Marshall demonstrated his leadership in which he made great strides to take The United States from one still being affected by the attitudes and social structures of slavery and a past full of discrimination into a truly integrated society. There can really be no greater single accomplishment of Thurgood Marshall than his victory in the Brown versus the Board of Education case. It was due to that victory that effectively brought school segregation to a halt once and for all in America. Thurgood Marshall paved the way for all African Americans to obtain the same level of high level of education as the white Americans. In doing so, the economic standard of living and educational level of African Americans rose significantly throughout his time on the bench and giving rise to the first black middle class that only added to the movement of the integration of society across all tiers and situations.

Growth of America

The United States is a very controversial country. The things it’s done in the past and present continue to make people think about where it is headed. In the three periods, 1851-1900, 1901-1930, and 1961-1990, the United States could have been the most controversial country. But, they are open to growth and continue to be today. The United States has been open to growth with racism, religion, and health. The way That countries are able to grow is what should really show people who they are and America has done that.

The first period between 1851-1900, had many things going on. The fight with slavery was the most important. The first way America showed the quality open to growth is through Abraham Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln was a very important person because he issued the Emancipation proclamation freeing the slaves. This was important because of all the oppression the United States put on the African Americans. Lincoln said, “This was That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people would then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom. These words were powerful. Lincoln let people know that slavery wasn’t okay anymore. Even though discrimination would still happen for a long time. America was going the right way. Another important document that showed how the US was open to growth is the Missouri Compromise. (Grierson). This document could be seen as not a big step for African Americans but it really was. The Missouri compromise made Missouri a slave state and Maine a free state. This seems like it’s not a big deal but it kept the balance of the states at the time. If there were more slave states than free states many things could have happened. African Americans could have lived under slavery for a lot longer than they did without this document and it could have changed the outcome of the civil war because there would have been more slave states than free. If this hadn’t happened, the confederate could have won and who knows what would have happened to the United States. The United States wasn’t just being racist towards African Americans. They were being racist to immigrants as well. These people were just trying to find a better life in the United States, and the citizens were too caught up with themselves instead of realizing that they should be welcoming. This can be seen in the Chinese exclusion act. In a timeline of events throughout history, it says, “ In the spring of 1882, the Chinese exclusion act was passed by congress and signed by president Chester A. Arthur. This act provided an absolute moratorium on Chinese labor immigration. For the first time, federal law proscribed entry of an ethnic group on the premise that endangered the good order of certain localities, passage of the act makes the culmination of several decades of growing hostility in the United States to Chinese immigrants, which was fostered by competition for jobs and racial animosity.” This was a bad thing, to not let a group of people into the country just because they felt threatened. Many people knew this was wrong and not until later on in America’s history did the citizens realize that it was bad and made up for it. This time period also allowed for people to worship religion freely. The majority of the population was Protestant, but now the people who weren’t and all our immigrants could practice whatever they want. This let the United States have a big diversity of religion and people. This was a big step for the acceptance of many people.

The next time period is 1901-1930. This time period included many things that went for African Americans and all races and against them. The Great Depression was a hard time for all people but especially for blacks and others. Loc.gov says, “The problems of the Great Depression affected virtually every group of Americans. No group was harder hit than African Americans, however. By 1932, approximately half of black Americans were out of work. In some Northern cities, whites called for blacks to be fired from any jobs as long as there were whites out of work. Racial violence again became more common, especially in the South. Lynchings, which had declined to eight in 1932, surged to 28 in 1933.” This wasn’t what the African Americans were looking for, in their eyes things were just getting worse. This was the case until the election of President Roosevelt. The new president was a great change for the African Americans. Teddy Roosevelt let African Americans visit the White House and even had a lot of black advisors. This was a win for the African Americans. During Roosevelt’s term, he even supports the NAACP, even though he didn’t pass bills they suggested, and it was a good thing for colored people. Later on, in Roosevelt’s term, America was about to go into World War Two. During this time African Americans weren’t allowed to serve for their country, and it hurt them because even though they were treated badly they still had pride in their country (Kendi). Again according to Loc.gov, “ When the U.S. entered World War II, labor leader A. Philip Randolph threatened to organize a march on Washington to protest job discrimination in the military and

other defense-related activities. In response, President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 8802, stating that all persons, regardless of race, creed, color, or national origin, would be allowed to participate fully in the defense of the United States.” This bill let African Americans have a sense of pride in their country. Letting them serve caused them to believe they were doing good instead of being oppressed. Even though the main focus in the United States was racism there were health problems to. America needed to look out for its citizens because they were not very healthy and the food they were eating wasn’t good because of the companies making it. The companies were corporation who just wanted money instead of making sure things were up to code. From these complaints and illnesses was the Pure Food and Drug act. The act was passed mainly because of Journalists that said the food industry was gross and harmful. According to historyhouse.gov, “ On this date, the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 (PL 59-384) passed in the U.S. House of Representatives, 240 to 17. Muckraking journalists had long reported on the appallingly unsanitary conditions of the country’s manufacturing plants, especially those in Chicago’s meat-packing industry. But it wasn’t until the public outcry following the publication of Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle that Congress moved on legislation that would prevent “the manufacture, sale, or transportation of adulterated or misbranded or poisonous or deleterious foods, drugs or medicines, and liquors.” The United States wasn’t taking care of their citizens like they should have been. Not paying attention to things like the meat industry (Primary Documents in American History). They finally were open to growth and decided their citizens health was a priority. America was growing in the arts to. Jazz was coming about in the roaring 20s and was a genre that was associated with African Americans and rich people. These people threw big parties with musicians because music was becoming a big part of life. People could express themselves through the music that they wrote and then there were the people who enjoyed it. This was seen a lot in rock music. In

an article written by Tim Grierson, he says, “ Rock’s origins can be traced to the late 1940s, when the popular styles of the day, country music and blues, morphed into a new sound aided by electric guitars and a steady drumbeat. Pioneering rock artists of the 1950s such as Chuck Berry leaned heavily on classic blues structures while demonstrating a flair as natural-born entertainers. In contrast to the safe pop music of the era, rock’s aggressive attack suggested a sexual freedom that was shocking during that conservative age.” Music was open to growth in America because of the advancement of technology. Without things like the electric guitar and other devices, we might not have the music that we listen to today (Lincoln). Music is a way to express your feelings, and people really enjoy it and everyone is glad music has changed into what it is today.

The last time period,1960-1990, was a big-time period for growth. Jim Crow laws were being enforced, the civil rights era was going on, and the United States population was changing a lot. The Jim Crow time period was a tough one. With unjust laws that discriminate people. Organizations popped up trying to get these laws taken away. The most well known is the NAACP. This organization was the biggest one that wanted civil rights. They consisted of extremely famous members like Martin Luther King Jr, Thurgood Marshall, and WE Dubois. Thurgood Marshall had a very big impact. According to Loc.gov, “ Baltimore native Thurgood Marshall graduated from Howard Law School in 1933 and joined the NAACP as assistant counsel in 1936. Marshall created its Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. in 1939 to litigate cases and raise money exclusively for the legal program. Marshall’s team of lawyers, Robert L. Carter, Jack Greenberg, Constance Baker Motley, and Franklin Williams, led the legal campaign against discrimination from 1938 to 1961. The NAACP won twenty-seven of thirty-two cases it argued before the Supreme Court. Marshall’s greatest victory was the 1954 Supreme Court landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education. In 1967, President Lyndon B. Johnson nominated Marshall to the Supreme Court”(Race During the Great Depression ). Winning all these court cases were huge for African Americans. It made a lot of people change their minds on how they were treating people. The most important person in the civil rights time was Martin Luther King Jr. King was extremely influential and a really good speaker. His protests let him gain a following of lots and lots of people. When he gave his I have a Dream speech, it changed almost all of Americas minds on how African Americans were being treated. King said, “ In a sense we’ve come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise to all men—yes, black men as well as white men— would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of. Honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked “ Insufficient funds.”After this speech, the world changed. The civil rights act was passed and it said that there was no more segregation. Now that America had grown with their ideas of colored people and let them in, the country started to see more people of different races come. In a study done by the CRS report, “ Based on data from the 50 states and the District of Columbia, the overwhelming majority of the U.S. population—almost 98%—reported only one race (King Jr, Martin). The most prevalent group, accounting for about 74%62 of the U.S. population, was those who reported that they are white alone, followed by those who are Black or African American alone (12%). The smallest race group was the Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander alone population, with 448,000 members, representing less than 0.2% of the U.S. population.” These numbers may seem kind of small, but they aren’t. These numbers are up pretty high from what they have been, and it is good to see the United States changing. A similar study was done by the US census bureau and they saw the same thing happening. The study says, “ White alone, percent76.6% Black or African American alone, percent(a)13.4% American Indian and Alaska Native alone, percent(a)1.3% Asian alone, percent(a)5.8% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone, percent(a)0.2% Two or More Races, percent2.7% Hispanic or Latino, percent(b)18.1% (Treasury).

White alone, not Hispanic or Latino, percent60.7.” These numbers are about the same as the last study. The main thing is they are. Going up. You can really tell the United States is open to growth because of the percentage of the minority populations going up (World Digital Library).

America has done some bad things. They discriminated many races and didn’t look out for its citizens when they should have. Everyone can criticize how America is bad but that’s not how you should think when trying to say whether a place is good or bad. A person should look at how the country has grown and learned from the bad things. Without the help of people who brought and fought for change, America wouldn’t be what it is today. It is because of people like Martin Luther King Jr. And Abraham Lincoln, that America was able to learn how to grow and become the good place it is today.

Works Cited

1. Grierson, Tim. “Rock Music’s Origins: A 1940s Blending of Country and Blues.” Thoughtco., Dotdash, 30 Nov. 2018, www.thoughtco.com/what-is-rock-music-2898293
2. Kendi, Ibram X. “A History of Race and Racism in America, in 24 Chapters.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 22 Feb. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/02/22/books/review/a-history-of-race-and-racism-in-america-in-24-chapters.html.
3. King Jr, Martin. “I Have a Dream.” Www.archives.gov.
4. “Primary Documents in American History.” Planning D-Day (April 2003) – Library of Congress Information Bulletin, Victor, www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/missouri.html.
5. Lincoln, Abraham. “Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation.” American Battlefield Trust, Battlefields.org, 31 Dec. 2018, www.battlefields.org/learn/primary-sources/abraham-lincolns-emancipation-proclamation.
6. Race During the Great Depression – American Memory Timeline- Classroom Presentation | Teacher Resources.” Planning D-Day (April 2003) – Library of Congress Information Bulletin, Victor, www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/presentations/timeline/depwwii/race/?scrlybrkr.
7. “The Changing Demographic Profile of the United States.” EveryCRSReport.com, Congressional Research Service, 31 Mar. 2011, www.everycrsreport.com/reports/RL32701.html.
8. “The Pure Food and Drug Act.” US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives, history.house.gov/Historical-Highlights/1901-1950/Pure-Food-and-Drug-Act/.
9. Treasury. “Affidavit of Louie Young Stating That He Is the Father of Louie Jock Sung, and Deposition of Non Chinese Witnesses (Documents Were Executed in New York City).” WDL RSS, U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, 15 Feb. 1909, www.wdl.org/en/item/2712/
10. “World Digital Library.” WDL RSS, Detroit Publishing Company, www.wdl.org/en/sets/us-history/timeline/.