To protest against injustice is the foundation of all our American democracy.
THURGOOD MARSHALLSurely the fact that a uniformed police officer is wearing his hair below his collar will make him no less identifiable as a policeman.
More Thurgood Marshall Quotes
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Classifications and distinctions based on race or color have no moral or legal validity in our society. They are contrary to our constitution and laws.
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Today’s Constitution is a realistic document of freedom only because of several corrective amendments. Those amendments speak to a sense of decency and fairness that I and other Blacks cherish.
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The process of democracy is one of change. Our laws are not frozen into immutable form, they are constantly in the process of revision in response to the needs of a changing society.
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The death penalty is no more effective a deterrent than life imprisonment. It is also evident that the burden of capital punishment falls upon the poor, the ignorant and the underprivileged members of society.
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I’m the world’s original gradualist. I just think ninety-odd years is gradual enough.
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Our whole constitutional heritage rebels at the thought of giving government the power to control men’s minds.
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The First Amendment serves not only the needs of the polity but also those of the human spirit – a spirit that demands self-expression .
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None of us got where we are solely by pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps. We got here because somebody – a parent, a teacher, an Ivy League crony or a few nuns – bent down and helped us pick up our boots.
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Truth is more than a mental exercise.
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The ban directly hampers the partys ability to spread its message and hamstrings voters seeking to inform themselves about the candidates and issues.
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We must dissent from the fear.
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The measure of a country’s greatness is its ability to retain compassion in time of crisis.
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None of us got where we are solely by pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps.
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Our Constitution is the envy of the world, as it should be for it is the grand design of the finest nation on earth.
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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. It’s not true, but I challenge anyone to say it is not a goal worth working for.
THURGOOD MARSHALL






