Author Gilbert King discusses his work uncovering one of the darkest, nearly forgotten moments in the history of the civil rights movement and the role Thurgood Marshall played in championing racial equality in the U.S.
On uncovering the case of the Groveland Four: “I felt like that was my responsibility to shine a light on the injustices, but also look at these American heroes like Thurgood Marshall and these young lawyers who were set and determined to go out and change things.”
On Thurgood Marshall’s legacy: “I think what you have to understand is because of people like Thurgood Marshall and these young lawyers, they were able to significantly change the criminal justice system. [It’s] definitely not perfect.… We have different problems now based on mass incarceration and other problems, but if you look at what the criminal justice system looked like in the ’40s and ’50s, if it wasn’t for these courageous people… this change never would have happened. So I always remind people about that.”
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