I never thought I would live long enough to see the legal profession change to the extent it has. Constance Baker Motley More Quotes by Constance Baker Motley More Quotes From Constance Baker Motley I got the chance to argue my first case in Supreme Court, a criminal case arising in Alabama that involved the right of a defendant to counsel at a critical stage in a capital case before a trial. Constance Baker Motley alabamacriminalsfirsts My father kept his distance from working-class American blacks. Constance Baker Motley distanceclassfather There is no longer a single common impediment to blacks emerging in this society. Constance Baker Motley this-societysingle-relationshipcommon The last state to admit a black student to the college level was South Carolina Constance Baker Motley south-carolinablackcollege I remember being infuriated from the top of my head to the tip of my toes the first time a screen was put around Bob Carter and me on a train leaving Washington in the 1940s. Constance Baker Motley toesbobleaving In my view, I did not get to the federal bench because I was a woman Constance Baker Motley benchesviews The middle class, in the white population, encompasses a wide swath. Constance Baker Motley populationwhiteclass Today's white majority is largely silent about the race question. Constance Baker Motley majorityracewhite The women's rights movement of the 1970s had not yet emerged; except for Bella Abzug, I had no women supporters. Constance Baker Motley womens-rightsmovementrights Living at the YMCA in Harlem dramatically broadened my view of the world. Constance Baker Motley ymcaviewsworld King consciously steered away from legal claims and instead relied on civil disobedience. Constance Baker Motley civil-disobedienceclaimskings When Thurgood Marshall became a lawyer, race relations in the United States were particularly bad. Constance Baker Motley usaunited-statesrace Doing away with separate black colleges meets resistance from alumni and other blacks. Constance Baker Motley resistanceblackcollege By 1962, King had become, by the media's reckoning, the new civil rights leader. Constance Baker Motley leadershipkingsrights Had it not been for James Meredith, who was willing to risk his life, the University of Mississippi would still be all white. Constance Baker Motley mississippiriskwhite In high school, I discovered myself. I was interested in race relations and the legal profession. I read about Lincoln and that he believed the law to be the most difficult of professions. Constance Baker Motley racelawschool In high school, I won a prize for an essay on tuberculosis. When I got through writing the essay, I was sure I had the disease. Constance Baker Motley tuberculosiswritingschool I soon found law school an unmitigated bore. Constance Baker Motley lawfoundschool The black population now consists of two distinct classes-the middle class and the poor. Constance Baker Motley blackclasstwo The legal difference between the sit-ins and the Freedom Riders was significant. Constance Baker Motley riderssignificantdifferences
