Ghosts of Jim Crow Haunt Us Still

Abstract

Thursday marks the 20th anniversary of the death of Baltimore-born Thurgood Marshall, the civil rights lawyer and first black Supreme Court justice who was instrumental in ending Jim Crow segregation. His representation of schoolgirl Linda Brown resulted in the landmark 1954 Supreme Court ruling Brown v. Board of Education, which ended separation practiced in a wide variety of public facilities and institutions.

Yet Marshall sought more than just desegregation. Explaining his vision, Marshall proclaimed that "a child born to a black mother in a state like Mississippi … has exactly the same rights as a white baby born to the wealthiest person in the United States."

Keywords: Thurgood Marshall, Brown v. Board of Education, Jim Crow, segregation, Supreme Court, racial inequality, Roberts vs. Texaco, capital punishment, death penalty

JEL Classification: J71, J79, K19, K39, K49