Teammates Dan Droze and Dave Harris: When Separate Was Equal in America

In Washington, DC in 1954 there were two important Supreme Court decisions reached on the same day in May. The decisions were Bolling v Sharpe and Brown v Board of Education. The two decisions changed how public school education was practiced in America.

Dwight D. Eisenhower was the President of the United States and Earl Warren was the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

The lead plaintiff attorney on Bolling v Sharpe was George Edward Hayes. The case was argued on the 5^th Amendment (Equal Protection Clause), thus setting up the theory of “reverse incorporation”.

The lead attorney for the plaintiffs in Brown v Board of Education was future Supreme Court Justice, the great Thurgood Marshall . Mr. Marshall graduated first in his class from Howard Law School in 1933. In 1934 he became the lawyer for the Baltimore Chapter of the NAACP.

The Supreme Court ruled that “separate but equal” public school education was unconstitutional.  The court ruled that public schools could never be truly equal with blacks attending one school and whites attending another. This would be Mr. Marshall’s battle ground and field of play.

If Attorney Thurgood Marshall had been a NFL quarterback, a three-point shooter in the NBA or a Designated hitter in Major League Baseball he would have no peers. He won 29 of the 32 cases he argued before the Supreme Court. Mr. Marshall was a Superstar in “The Game Called Life.”  It is the only game being played in today’s America where the title of Superstar really counts. 

If Black America is looking for a hero and role model we have to look no further than Thurgood Marshall, He literally set the bar of how we should measure our heroes and role models in our community. We should be able to go to Webster’s Dictionary and look up the definition of “Unselfishness” and see his picture.

When the Supreme Court finally rendered a decision in 1954 declaring segregation in America’s schools unconstitutional, Archbishop Patrick O’Boyle picked up the ball and ran with it. 

The Archbishop played a significant role leading up to the decision that would set the stage for the 1954 All-Star game. He implemented a follow-up action plan. He authorized a scrimmage between all black Armstrong Technical High School and integrated Archbishop John Carroll High School. Carroll had ONE black player, but had several black students enrolled at the school.

The scrimmage took place in August, 1953. The Coach for Carroll was George Washington University legend and NFL Hall of Famer Tuffy Leesmans. The Armstrong High School football coach was the equally talented Ted McIntye. Willie Wood was only a sophomore but he was all over the field. His greatness could not be denied. He would go on to become an NFL Hall of Fame player for the Green Bay Packers.

The real star of the scrimmage, however, was “Red Mike” Hagler who went on to become a star running back at Iowa. He played in two Rose Bowls (1956-1958) for legendary Iowa Coach, Forrest Evashevski. In the second Rose Bowl he scored two TDs. The second TD was a spectacular weaving 66 yard inside reverse. Mike would end his football career playing semi-pro football in New Jersey. He was definitely a legend in his own time.

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