And he literally educated himself out of racism.ĮLLIOTT: And out of Alabama. And here's someone who started out through raw ambition, joining the Ku Klux Klan to get elected. And my grandfather's life, I think, was indicative of that. I could never fill his shoes, but.ĮLLIOTT: Justice Black's thoughts and arguments are scribbled in the margins of these books, notes that reflect his evolution from Ku Klux Klansman to champion of equal rights on the U.S.

And it meant a lot to sit here in this room and try to figure out a way I could make a difference someway similar to him. A lot of times, it was very emotional because I grew up away from the state, really wanting to be back where my family was rooted. He's a college professor and director of the University of Alabama Center for Ethics and Social Responsibility.īLACK: I remember the first year I came back to Alabama to live, I used to just come in here and read. A bust of Thomas Jefferson sits atop his desk, hundreds of books line the walls. Roosevelt, Black was a staunch civil liberties advocate. senator from Alabama, Hugo Black served on the Supreme Court from 1937 until 1971. NPR's Debbie Elliott has this profile.ĭEBBIE ELLIOTT, BYLINE: Stephen Black sits at his grandfather's old desk, rifling through the drawers.ĮLLIOTT: He's in a small room at the University of Alabama law school library, where Justice Hugo Black's home study has been reassembled.īLACK: It smells the way it smelled in that room, and it's really a special place.ĮLLIOTT: A former U.S. Stephen Black's inspiration is his grandfather, the late Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black.

Now, a college professor is trying to stop the migration. And as a result, college graduates tend to flee the state for better opportunities elsewhere. I'm Audie Cornish.Īlabama consistently ranks near the bottom in most social measures. This is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News.

Final Balance by Stephen Black