Who was the first African American to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court?

• A. Clarence Thomas
• B. Constance Baker Motley
• C. Thurgood Marshall
• D. Ketanji Brown Jackson

Answer: (C)

The fact being tested is who first broke the color barrier on the U.S. Supreme Court. Thurgood Marshall was that pioneer: a landmark civil rights lawyer who argued and won Brown v. Board of Education before being appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson to the Court in 1967. He served as an Associate Justice for about 24 years and opened the path for future generations of diverse justices. Clarence Thomas joined later, in 1991, as the second African American justice. Constance Baker Motley was a pioneering federal judge but did not sit on the Supreme Court, and Ketanji Brown Jackson is the first African American woman on the Court, not the first African American overall.