Search - Biography - Thurgood Marshall: Justice for All on DVD

Positive Role Model

Jeffery Mingo | Homewood, IL USA | 05/02/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"If you are a fan of African-American history and know the importance of Justice Marshall, then not much is new here. However, this documentary would be great for those unfamiliar with him, especially African-American young students. Not only did he help to end legalized segregation, but he had many wonderful qualities. He was a great speaker, an awesome writer, a hard worker, and devoted family man, and much more. He was the valedictorian of his law class and had judicial experience, so conservatives cannot maintain that yap-yap that he "wasn't qualified." This documentary reiterates what a hero he should be to many.

According to Rachel Moran, most interracial couples are made of one person of color and one white person. Interracial couples composed of two people of color do not get enough coverage in the United States. Many people have forgotten that P. Diddy was with J. Lo. Many people do not know that Carlos Santana's wife is African American. So this documentary shows Justice Marshall's Asian-American wife, but never lists her ethnicity. (Was she Thai-American?) It never mentions if they had difficulties living as a Black-Asian couple. The couple's sons are interviewed and they have visible Asian features. I wonder if the documentary makers assumed that Asianness speaks for itself here. Still, this is an avenue that they should have explored, especially in light of the celebration of multiculturalism and mixed-race families, yet they did not.

This documentary includes interviews from Blacks and whites, women and men. It turns out that Juan Williams wrote Marshall's biography. I had only known of him as a journalist. I am impressed that he could complete such a difficult task, unrelated to his typical work.

This documentary only says, "Justice Marshall wished he could have seen another Democratic President" and then it mentions that he died a few days after President Clinton's inauguration. However, what really happened is that Marshall wished he could have retired under a Democratic presidency, so that another progressive or person of color could be named as his replacement. I had always heard that Marshall was emphatically irked that Clarence Thomas got his seat. So this idea that he died with everything to his satisfaction is false. Again, the Biography series waters down progressive politics, probably to appease Middle Americans and their embrace of the Right. I found this spin in the documentary very cowardice.

Do see this work if you get the chance."