Item
Bibliographic Resource

The Law: The Tension of Change

Title of the Document
The Law: The Tension of Change
One Line Summary
A Time interview and article about Thurgood Marshall and his childhood, family, and Brown v. Board.
Author
Unknown
Date Created
September 19, 1955
Location
Baltimore, Maryland
Type of Document
Newspaper Article
Publisher
Time Magazine
Transcription
Thurgood Marshall says: "American Negroes have no ties with Africa. Their history begins right here." Nevertheless, like a Virginia gentleman recalling the ancestral manor in Gloucestershire, Marshall begins his family history in the old country with a great-grandfather on his mother's side. "Way back before the Civil War, this rich man from Maryland went to the Congo on a hunting expedition or something. The whole time he was there, this little black boy trailed him around. So when they got ready to come back to this country, they just picked him up and brought him along. The years passed and he grew up, and, boy, he grew up into one mean man. One day his owner came to him and said: 'You're so evil I got to get rid of you. But I haven't the heart to sell you or give you to another man. So I'll tell you what I'll do: if you'll get out of the town and county and state, I'll give you your freedom.' Well, my great-grandfather never said a word, just looked at him. And he walked off the place, settled down a couple miles away, raised his family and lived there till the day he died. And nobody ever laid a hand on him."
Related
Thurgood Marshall (1908-1993)
Provenance
“THE LAW: The Tension of Change” Time Magazine, September 19, 1955. https://time.com/archive/6802804/the-law-the-tension-of-change/.