Right now, it's time for the Way Black History Fact. Today's Way Black History Pact to sponsored by Major Threads for innovative fashionable sportswear check Majors Threads dot com. Today we're going to be talking about Third Good Marshall. He is the first black Supreme Court Justice and he is worthy of today's conversation. He would be thoroughly disappointed in one of his predecessors or one of his successors. Sorry.
On August thirtieth, nineteen sixty seven, the Senate confirmed Third Good Marshal as the first black person to serve as the Supreme Court Justice. Marshall was no stranger to the Senate or the Supreme Court at the time, and Marshall was confirmed in a sixty nine to eleven floor vote to join the Court. He had previously been confirmed by the Senate twice for two other government positions, when Marshall was confirmed as a federal judge in the Kentucky administration
and then as Solicitor General for President Lyndon Johnson. President Johnson nominated Marshall in June nineteen sixty seven to replace the retiring Justice Tom Clark, who left the court after his son, Ramsey Clark became Attorney General. Johnson said marsh was quote best qualified by training and by very valuable service to the country. I believe it is the right thing to do, the right time to do it, and
the right man the right place. As long as civil rights litigator, sorry as a long civil rights litigator for the NAACP, Marshall had won most of the cases he argued in front of the Supreme Court in that capacity. Arguably his best and biggest win was the case of Brown versus the Board of Education in nineteen fifty four, one of the true landmark decisions in the Court's history, which invalidated the concept of segregation at public schools under
the Fourteenth Amendment. Quote. This Court should make it clear that that is not what our constitution stands for. End quote, Marshall argued successfully. Marshall's confirmation hearing met with some resistance from Southern senators who were concerned about his liberal track record. The majority of senators in the Judiciary Committee reported that Marshall quote demonstrated those qualities which we admire in members
of our highest judicial tribunal. Thoughtfulness, care, moderation, reasonableness, a judicial temperament, and a balanced approach to controversial and complicated national problems. In quote, five senators, including Sam Irvin, a Democrat from North Carolina, didn't recommend Marshall's nomination. Quote it's clearly a disservice to the Constitution and the country to appoint a judicial activist to the Supreme Court at any time,
wrote Irvin in the committee's report. The actual debate and floor vote on August thirty, nineteen sixty seven took about six hours, with the discussion focused on Marshall's character and the conservative senator's concerns over Marshall as a liberal jurist and attorney. After he was fully approved by the Senate, Marshall then took two oaths, one in September nineteen sixty seven, in another in early October nineteen sixty seven. When we first joined the bench on the Court, Martial was a
member of the bench's liberal wing. He served twenty four years on the Court before retiring in nineteen ninety one. After Marshall's death in ninety three, the Court approved a special resolution honoring Marshall. Quote. The great majority of Supreme Court justices are almost always remembered for their contributions to
constitutional law. As a member of this Court. Justice Marshall, however, it is unique because of his contributions to constitutional law before becoming a member of the Court was so significant, quote wrote Chief Justice William Rehnquist. Quote inscribed above the front interest to this Court building are the words equal
justice under law. Surely no individual did more to make these words a reality than third Good Marshal, and I want to share something just In contrast from the Black Information Network, comments made by family members of Jenny Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, surrounding how they felt about her marrying her husband, have resurfaced. Per the Atlanta Black Star, The remarks came from a nineteen ninety one article in the Washington Post headline the Nominee's Soulmate.
During the decades old interview, Jenny discussed her staunch conservative views, and her relatives revealed that they were shocked when she told them she was marrying a black man. Quote. I can guarantee you I was surprised when I found out she was going with a black man, Jenny's uncle, Ralph Knopp said, per the Post, it was unusual for us, but he was so nice. We forgot he was black and he treated her so well, so yeah, they had to forget he was back.