When Justice Thurgood Marshall, the First African American to Serve

Essay

When Justice Thurgood Marshall, the first African American to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, was awarded the Liberty Medal in 1992, he delivered an eloquent acceptance speech. Identify and analyze the ways in which Justice Marshall used many of the effective language strategies discussed in your textbook.
The legal system can force open doors, and sometimes even knock down walls, but it cannot build bridges. That job belongs to you and me. The country cannot do it. Afro and White, rich and poor, educated and illiterate, our fates are bound together… We will only attain freedom if we learn to appreciate what is different, and muster the courage to discover what is fundamentally the same. America's diversity offers so much richness and opportunity. Make a change, won't you? Knock down the fences which divide. Tear apart the walls that imprison you. Reach out. Freedom lies just on the other side. We shall have liberty for all.