Thurgood Marshall by Juan Williams

Author:Juan Williams
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9780307786128
Publisher: Crown Publishing Group
Published: 2011-03-02T10:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 22

No Radical

SHOUTING INTO A PAY PHONE in a hallway at the Supreme Court, Thurgood Marshall announced the big victory to NAACP officials in New York. He had grabbed the golden ring, the prize that had been sought so long by Nathan Margold, by Charles Houston, by the people contributing their coins in the branches all over the country, and here it was—the end of school segregation. Elated by the unanimous ruling, he stopped only to allow reporters to snap pictures of him on the steps of the Court before hopping on the next flight to New York, racing the news that was spreading around the country like electricity. “We were ecstatic,” remembered Bob Carter. “It was a very heady day.”

At the NAACP’s office Marshall walked into a crowded press conference being held by Walter White. The NAACP executive secretary, prancing like a rooster, told the reporters that his next plan was to attack segregation in housing and transportation. Marshall shifted from elation to anger as he watched White taking all the credit for the Supreme Court’s ruling. He was literally being pushed to the rear as White stood up front to make pronouncements about the NAACP’s great victory over segregation. Toward the end of the press conference, in an uncharacteristic outburst, Marshall shouted, “What law school did you graduate from, Mr. White?” Despite the tension, everyone laughed it off as a joke.

“Walter was carrying on as if this was his achievement, this was his victory, as if he prepared the case, got the plaintiffs, wrote the briefs, even went to court,” recalled Herbert Hill. “I watched Thurgood, and I said to myself, ‘How much longer is Thurgood going to take this stuff?’ I knew he was going to start to blow up.”1

Despite that ego battle, the sounds of popping champagne corks and loud laughter filled the rooms. Roy Wilkins, Marshall, and the entire staff, from the receptionists to the board members, were celebrating the decision with reporters and friends.

“We’d always had parties, drunken parties, after winning, but that was the best,” Marshall said later, a smile on his face. “Yeah, I thought I was going to win but not unanimously.” John W Davis was the first to get through on the telephone. He congratulated Marshall on the victory but threw in a word of caution: “I hope you realize that the only way you can win a case is somebody has to lose.” When Marshall got off the phone, several people pulled into a circle around him to find out what Davis had said.

As was typical, Marshall was empathetic with Davis. Sounding almost apologetic about Davis’s defeat, Marshall shook his head, a look of condolence washing over him, and said, “I did, I beat him, but you can’t name many people who did.”

As the party spun into the night, Marshall and several of the NAACP staff went to his favorite restaurant, the Blue Ribbon, for food and drinks. Ken Clark was in the group, and Marshall stopped the festivities at one point, less to honor Clark than to tease Clark’s critics.

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