...back for those who were unable. Charles Hamilton Houston, "the man who killed Jim Crow”, grew up during the Jim Crow Era and devoted his entire life trying to destroy it. Houston came from a privileged background in regards to blacks. He finished top of his class in high school preparing him for a prosperous college career. Unfortunately, before Houston had the chance to attend college, he served in a segregated regiment during World War I. During this time Houston wrote about the hate he constantly faced from his fellow countrymen due to his race and promised himself he would study law to fix the lack of justice, changing the situation for his people. In 1920, he entered Harvard law school where he became the first black editor of the Harvard Law Review. Later, Houston would become dean of Howard University Law School and chief counsel to the NAACP. He also presented a number of supporting cases leading up to Brown v. Board of Education. Houston strategically targeted segregated education as the key to undermining the entire Jim Crow system because he could relate it to the rights granted by the 14th Amendment. However, Houston would need help to fight for racial equality. So in 1929 he put together a team to fight for social justice; the team included men such as, Oliver Hill and William Hasty. The men deliberated the approach they would take to...
Words: 1104 - Pages: 5
