Viewing American History from the Supreme Court's POV (Connor McIntyre, Jerry Chen)
Introduction:
American History isn't limited to America. The history of the nation has been intertwined with the rest of the world through the values of freedom and liberty being echoed all around the world, and nothing exemplifies this more than the Civil Rights Movement. Nikhil Pal Singh, a historian at NYU argues in his book Black is a Country, although the movement was based in America, the movement was really centered around anti-imperialism and demanding equality for all internationally. He says that "black freedom dreams had a habit of exceeding the sanctioned boundaries and brokered compromises of the established political order." In other words, the goal of the Civil Rights Movement and Black ideals of equality extended beyond the borders of America's location and identity. The role of America, and by extension the Black Americans of the Civil Rights Movement would be to lead the world and other countries to help embody these values and their freedom for their people.Some may ask then, "But why should the United States be equipped to do so, especially given it's controversial history?" Contrary to their point, the United States' controversial history is why it is more equipped to do so in comparison to other countries. Jill Lepore in her article, "A New Americanism", demonstrates this unique advantage that the United States has over other countries in its unique history. Lepore argues that the United States is a unique instance of a state-nation rather than a nation-state as the state identity arose prior to the formation of a national identity. This, along with the lack of cohesive cultural ancestry, puts America in a unique perspective to be an adopter of a vast array of values and ideals that can encompass as many people as it chooses. Its lack of cultural origin means that its undefined cultural identity has the ability to include all peoples, regardless of their personal identity.
Thurgood Marshall exemplifies the flexible and plastic nature of America. Marshall served as a lawyer for the NAACP, and then as the first African American in the Supreme Court. In what is often referred to as his "Bicentennial Speech" he describes the Constitution as a "Living document." "We the People" and it's ideas of freedom and equality did not extend to African Americans, but later amendments would change the framework to include them. Without a history that is set in stone, both the history of the United States, and its political framework, could be easily rewritten to include a new cultural group into the American identity.
Marshall was one of the lawyers on a influential case known as Brown V Board of Education. Marshall fought in the very case that sough to reinterpret the constitution to begin eliminating segregation in the United States.
The smile on their faces, and their handshake demonstrating unity in the face of injustice in the United States shows that America has the ability to change and improve on itself as long as its people is willing to put the effort into making that change. The progression from slavery to freedom, to fighting for a new interpretation of the Constitution can demonstrate that America can eventually, become the best version of itself and exemplify it's core values.
Along with this, after his success in Brown V Board of Education, Thurgood Marshall was asked by the UN to help draft the Constitutions or Declarations of Independence for Ghana, present day Tanzania, and Kenya. Marshall used components of and quoted word for word, parts of the US Declaration of Independence and Constitution when aiding in the drafting of these documents for Ghana. Marshall aided the people in these countries in establishing a framework of their ideals of freedom, liberty and equality within their Constitutions, political documents and laws. With Marshall's help in developing this initial framework, these three countries are in great places to improve. They aren't perfect and will need help to further develop and truly live up to these ideas, however with the assistance of Marshall, this process has been hastened and improved upon. In return, Marshall was more equipped with the experiences and ideas that other non-US Black peoples had in order to expand and improve upon his own work in the Civil Rights Movement at home, in the US.
Marshall is just one demonstration of the connection that the Civil Rights Movement has internationally. The idea of freedom, liberty, and equality for all are not limited to the United States. They are international, and only need a small amount of support or partnership with movements from other areas of the globe to further advance these core international values. It also demonstrates the international presence Civil Rights had during this time, as the United States was not the only country dealing with a movement like this at this time. The work that Marshall did within these three countries not only helped to enhance the movement within their own nations, it also served to help the US better understood the experiences of peoples outside of their own borders and improve the nation's openness and inclusivity.
Teaching:
Reading the speech by Thurgood Marshall and seeing the image of the three smiling lawyers united is an effective way of demonstrating the perspective of the Supreme Court and Lawyers. As the primary interpreters of the core documents of this country, it is helpful to understand their perspective on the US history.This could be helpful not only for future lawyers but also students who think the government as incompetent. Seeing the members of the Government working to amend changes and their thoughts in doing so is a way to remedy this perspective. Also, Marshall's future roles beyond lawyer show that the values of the United States are international, and its culture and politics can continue to grow and develop as time continues, as long as its people are willing to allow that to happen. This is enabled by the framework in which its documents are created that allow it to be flexible. This openness and willingness to change is one that can be appreciated by everyone, regardless of country or nation of origin.Research Process
