PROGRAM: LEGAL REDRESS
In 1909, the NAACP commenced what has become its legacy of fighting legal battles to win social justice for
African-Americans and indeed, for all Americans. The most significant of these battles were fought and won
under the leadership of Charles Hamilton Houston and his student and protege, Thurgood Marshall.
After training the first generation of Civil Rights lawyers during his years as Dean of Howard University's Law
School, Houston was appointed in 1935 o be the first Special Counsel of the NAACP. Often referred to as the
"Moses of the civil rights movement," Houston was the architect and chief strategist of the NAACP's legal
campaign to end segregation.
When Thurgood Marshall succeeded Houston as NAACP's Special Counsel, he continued the Association's
legal campaign. During the mid-1940s, in Smith v. Allwright, Marshall successfully challenged "white
primaries," which prevented African Americans from voting in several southern states. In Morgan v. Virginia
(1946), Marshall won a case in which the Supreme Court struck down a state law that enforced segregation
on buses and trains that were interstate carriers. In 1950, Marshall won cases that struck down Texas and
Oklahoma laws requiring segregated graduate schools in Sweatt v. Painter and McLaurin v. Oklahoma. In
those cases, a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court held that the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth
Amendment required those states to admit black students to their graduate and professional schools.
Today, NAACP attorneys are still challenging racial discrimination whether it appears in the guise of corporate
hotel policies that discriminate against African-American college students, voting disenfranchisement during
national presidential elections or state sponsored symbols of white supremacy, such as the confederate
battle flag. The NAACP's Legal Department focuses on class actions and other cases of broad significance in
areas including employment, education, housing, environmental justice, criminal law and voting, striving
always, to advance the Association's goals while remembering Charles Hamilton Houston's admonition that
"[A] lawyer is either a social engineer or a parasite on society."
Related Links:
Magnolia Bar Association
African-Americans and indeed, for all Americans. The most significant of these battles were fought and won
under the leadership of Charles Hamilton Houston and his student and protege, Thurgood Marshall.
After training the first generation of Civil Rights lawyers during his years as Dean of Howard University's Law
School, Houston was appointed in 1935 o be the first Special Counsel of the NAACP. Often referred to as the
"Moses of the civil rights movement," Houston was the architect and chief strategist of the NAACP's legal
campaign to end segregation.
When Thurgood Marshall succeeded Houston as NAACP's Special Counsel, he continued the Association's
legal campaign. During the mid-1940s, in Smith v. Allwright, Marshall successfully challenged "white
primaries," which prevented African Americans from voting in several southern states. In Morgan v. Virginia
(1946), Marshall won a case in which the Supreme Court struck down a state law that enforced segregation
on buses and trains that were interstate carriers. In 1950, Marshall won cases that struck down Texas and
Oklahoma laws requiring segregated graduate schools in Sweatt v. Painter and McLaurin v. Oklahoma. In
those cases, a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court held that the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth
Amendment required those states to admit black students to their graduate and professional schools.
Today, NAACP attorneys are still challenging racial discrimination whether it appears in the guise of corporate
hotel policies that discriminate against African-American college students, voting disenfranchisement during
national presidential elections or state sponsored symbols of white supremacy, such as the confederate
battle flag. The NAACP's Legal Department focuses on class actions and other cases of broad significance in
areas including employment, education, housing, environmental justice, criminal law and voting, striving
always, to advance the Association's goals while remembering Charles Hamilton Houston's admonition that
"[A] lawyer is either a social engineer or a parasite on society."
Related Links:
Magnolia Bar Association
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