A Defiant Life: Thurgood Marshall and the Persistence of Racism in America

Thurgood Marshalls extraordinary contribution to civil rights and overcoming racism is more topical than ever as the national debate on race and the overturning of affirmative action policies make headlines nationwide. Howard Ball author of eighteen books on the Supreme Court and the federal judiciary has done copious research for this incisive biography to present an authoritative portrait of Marshall the jurist.. Born to a middle-class black family in Jim Crow Baltimore at the turn of the century Marshalls race informed his worldview from an early age. He was rejected by the University of Maryland Law School because of the color of his skin. He then attended Howard Universitys Law School where his racial consciousness was awakened by the brilliant lawyer and activist Charlie Houston. Marshall suddenly knew what he wanted to be: a civil rights lawyer one of Houstons social engineers. As the chief attorney for the NAACP he developed the strategy for the legal challenge to racial discrimination. His soaring achievements and his lasting impact on the nations legal system--as the NAACPs advocate as a federal appeals court judge as President Lyndon Johnsons solicitor general and finally as the first African American Supreme Court Justice--are symbolized by Brown v. Board of Education the landmark case that ended legal segregation in public schools. . Using race as the defining theme Ball spotlights Marshalls genius in working within the legal system to further his lifelong commitment to racial equality. With the help of numerous previously unpublished sources Ball presents a lucid account of Marshalls illustrious career and his historic impact on American civil rights.