Weekly Hero, Thurgood Marshall

Thurgood Marshall is today's hero. Some have considered making Marshall a saint, which seems like a great idea to me.

His career with the NAACP is the cornerstone of my admiration. While I have often highlighted lawyers who pursue activism rather than litigation, Marshall demonstrates the way in which litigation can serve as a powerful symbolic weapon for the activist. His work on Brown v. Board of Education, though it did not result in real integration until about a decade later when the legislature went to work, was a powerful symbolic victory.

Some argue that such victories pacify rather than inspire activist movements. This is true sometimes, but other times that taste of victory is just what the movement needs to inspire further action. The Supreme Court in Brown recognized segregation as racist, and though it later limited Brown, this recognition may have fortified the moral high-ground of the activists and inspired the movement to take further political, legislative, and direct action.

The Brown strategy was brilliant, and an example to all activists seeking to use a litigation strategy.

On the Supreme Court, Marshall was a consistent and thoughtful advocate for compassion. Every time Thomas writes something crazy, we all miss Marshall a little more.