credit: Grundlepuck

I just learned (via Eduwonk) that yesterday would have been Thurgood Marshall’s 100th birthday.  I’ve long believed that Justice Marshall is an underrated hero/icon in our nation; to me, at least, he is THE most influential figure in the history of the fight for civil rights in the U.S.

I want to share a quick story of how I got started in my career, because Marshall was very much involved.  I was a brand new doctoral student at Teachers College, Columbia U. sitting in a class taught by Dr. Dale Mann.  Dale was an unrelenting “instructionist;” he spoke (quite eloquently and convincingly) and we listened.  One day, he was speaking of a project that he was evaluating.  Dubbed the “Cyberspace Regionalization Project,” the initiative involved two high schools in New Jersey.  Hunterdon Central Regional HS (where our man Will Richardson was plying his trade at the time) served a largely, white, upper-middle class community.  Asbury Park HS served a majority minority community.  Students from both schools worked together via videoconferencing tools (primitive by today’s standards; this was 1997!) on various projects.  There was a science fair, a literary magazine and a couple of other projects I can’t remember.  The idea was essentially “virtual desegregation.”  I was invited to write about the project for a federally sponsored ed. tech. conference.

Well, having just graduate law school, I had the audacity to raise my hand in Dale’s class.  He looked at me incredulously and allowed me to speak.  I said something to the effect of, “I don’t think that’s what Thurgood Marshall and his colleagues had in mind…separate is inherently unequal…blah, blah, blah…”  Dale asked to see me after class.

No, he didn’t chide me; rather he asked who I was and what I wanted to do with my life.  From there, we struck up a professional relationship that still lasts.  Dale and his wife, Dr. Charol Shakeshaft, have been my mentors ever since and they got me started on this professional journey.  But, really, if it were not for Thurgood Marshall, I probably would not have challenged Dale and, well, I wonder how different my life would be.  So, like many, many others, I owe a debt of gratitude to Thurgood Marshall.  Actually, I think we ALL do.

Happy 100th Thurgood Marshall!

Tags: civil rights, Thurgood Marshall