For the final day of Black History Month, we reviewed some newspaper articles in NY State and found this one -

Black History Month is an important part of every year. It may only be one month, but it should be recognized as an important symbol to everyone that proves how far our country has come. Our nation has changed so much for the better throughout the years, and we should celebrate every day that we are all created equal and are treated that way.

Even though we believe that our country does not stereotype or is not racist in any way, there are still people who judge others every day by their appearance. I was not brought up in a household that judged or stereotyped people, but I do come face to face with these issues daily.

When I walk into my white suburban high school, I don’t expect to hear rude comments about African-Americans. However, I still do hear jokes constantly made about others. My school is trying to promote diversity, and I believe that is a wonderful thing. We have a diversity club and different shirts that we all try and wear one day a month. Even though my school is not very diverse, it still is important to get the message across to children and teens that we should accept people who are different from us.

Some people believe that our nation has changed so much that we do not need to even celebrate February as Black History Month. However, this month not only allows us to remember our past, but it also confirms that we are changing constantly for a better future. My school is taking steps into helping students recognize their backgrounds and showing others how they are unique.

We are not only showing others that we accept different backgrounds, but that we also embrace different ideas from them. We may have come a long way, but we still need to go further. People across the world are different and unique, but we need to remember that everyone is equal and should be treated with the highest respect. In order for our world to keep changing for the better, we need this month to celebrate the role African-American’s have had in shaping this beautiful country.

Thurgood Marshall Biography
U.S. Supreme Court Judge / Jurist / Civil Rights Figure
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Attorney Thurgood Marshall led the civil rights case of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka to a successful hearing at the Supreme Court of the United States in 1954. He became the court’s first African-American justice 13 years later. The descendant of slaves, Marshall graduated from all-black Lincoln University in Pennsylvania in 1930, then received a law degree from Howard University in 1933. He opened his own law practice in Baltimore and became known as a lawyer who would speak up for the rights of African-Americans; this led him to a job with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1936. He spent more than two decades with the NAACP, gaining his greatest fame for the case of Brown v. Board of Education from 1952-54. When the Supreme Court ruled in 1954 that “Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal,” Marshall and the NAACP won a great victory for civil rights. Marshall was nominated to the U.S. Court of Appeals (Second Circuit) in 1961, then appointed to the post of solicitor general in 1965 by President Lyndon Johnson. Marshall was appointed to the Supreme Court itself in 1967, where he served for 24 years before he retired in 1991. Marshall, known as a liberal throughout his tenure, was replaced on the court by conservative African-American Clarence Thomas (appointed by President George H. W. Bush). Marshall died of heart failure two years later.

Extra credit: Texas Southern University School of Law was renamed the Thurgood Marshall School of Law in his honor in 1976… Marshall replaced Tom C. Clark on the Supreme Court… Marshall was married twice: to the former Vivian Burey (from 1929 until her death in 1955) and to Cecilia Suyat (from 1955 until his death)… Marshall is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

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