The early 20th century was a notable period in American history as there was a significant number of changes that were integrated and introduced culturally. The overall nature of life in America for many individuals, especially for members of communities such as the African-American community, began to see a substantial level evolution. It was during this time that Civil Rights groups began to prominently acclimate themselves to the political and social landscape of the country and many notable members of these movements came forward and catalyzed the changes that are present in the modern American system.
This idea is especially prevalent in “Devil in the Grove” Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America” by Gilbert King. This novel chooses to focus on the history of a prominent figure in African-America Civil Rights history, being Thurgood Marshall, a famous attorney. The overall context of this story is placed in the direction of a famous trial of four young African-American men in Lake County, Florida. Marshall was the defense attorney for these individuals who were in turn falsely accused of the act of raping a white woman who lived in the county. They were labeled the “Groveland Boys” by the media and Marshall led a group of individuals from the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. This move was critical in the development of the perception of Africa-American individuals in the sense that Marshall’s representation and the involvement of the NAACP helped to develop the activities and perception of the Civil Rights movement.

The priorities of the Civil Rights movement came to be evidenced in the way that they chose to represent the Groveland Boys. Thurgood Marshall was poised to help tremendously with the case for these boys, having came away recently from the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case. Thurgood Marshall’s capacity to analyze and deduce the judicial system and positively affect the course of cases in this racially charged era was evidenced by his approach to the Brown v. Board of Education case and the ability that he had to preserve the sanctity of judicial affairs in the country. The case itself represented a notable one in the fact that it was one of the most charged cases in the career of Marshall, as the individuals who were charged with the acts themselves were presented with a more precarious situation from which Marshall had to help rectify.

The boys themselves were headed for the death penalty for a false claim of raping a seventeen-year-old girl in the county that they lived. The opening sections of the book depicted the actions that occurred to lead to the sentencing and the overall environment which led to the case itself. The opening sections of the story was placed in 1949, at a time when the orange industry was booming at an exponential rate in Florida. One of the principle focuses on the introductory section came in the exposition that was given towards the citrus moguls that had capitalized on the work and the labor of the African-American communities. Furthermore, the introduction highlighted a notable level of disenfranchisement by the state constitution which had developed since the turn of the century.

Despite the fact that slavery had been outlawed several decades prior, there was a form of institutionalized slavery in the low rates that the workers were given and the extreme conditions that they were forced to work. Overall, the nature of the state was subject to many indicators of white supremacy and racism. The actions of the Sheriff Willis V. McCall were brought into question, as his actions defined an individual and representative of the justice system who characteristically embodied racist ideas and beliefs. The white seventeen-year-old Groveland girl claimed that she was raped by the African-American men, and as a result, the Sheriff Willis V. McCall called for the arrest of the four men who the girl claimed to have raped her.

Thurgood Marshall, who was known as “Mr. Civil Rights” at the time, was one of the most prominent figures in Civil Rights history and at that era, was one of the most influential attorneys in the country. Hearing the situation in Florida, Marshall came to the aid of the boys in the state due to the implications that he felt typified the racist beliefs and perceptions of many of those in the state at the time. Marshall chose to represent the individuals on behalf of the Legal Defense fund of the NAACP. The nature of segregation and the effects of the issue on the culture of American society were highlighted in the involvement of the Ku Klux Klan following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the convictions and in turn return the case to the state, subject to a retrial.

The Ku Klux Kan eventually came to the town in Florida, precipitating the actions that were typified by individuals who characteristically were racist in that era. The Ku Klux Klan eventually burned the homes and businesses of Africa-Americans and chased several hundreds into the swamps and areas surrounding the state, out of fear of lynching and being killed by the Klan itself. The Klan was the one that initiated the violence, shooting and killing one of the defendants. The organizations that came forth following these events for the Civil Rights movement were mostly based on reactionary tactics, responding to the violence and transgressions that were created by those with racist tendencies and choosing to focus on uniting the cause and the African-American communities behind the eventual end of segregation and racism during these years.

Marshall’s involvement in ensuring that the racial violence was minimized also made him a prominent target by the members of the Klan and racist groups during this time, as they were in fear that the reign of terror which had swept the region would eventually lead to him being hurt or killed. Individuals of the Klan also eventually murdered one of the associates that had been involved with Marshall. The focus of the novel also brought forth a plethora of information and documents that had never-been-seen before. There was a number of FBI files and documents that were brought forth by King and furthermore, he gained a large access to the Legal Defense Funds of the NAACP. He set forth to explore the work of Marshall in this period and developed his narrative around many of the facts that were presented by those who witnessed the events that had transpired in a more firsthand account. The primary focus of the Civil Rights individuals in these days was built around developing actions to help combat the effects that were caused by those around them.

There was a stable ability on Marshall and his representative’s accounts to ensure that there was a notable level of understanding and emphasis placed on providing logical responses to the actions that had affected them. The overall needs of the Civil Rights movement of the time were to help instill a sense of equality and the idea was built around the representation of the members of this society in terms of being equally known and presented before the white communities. The strategies that they employed were built around this concept, dealing with the instances of injustice and focusing primarily on educating and informing a greater breadth of the masses and helping to curb the effects of the mass racism which was present.