A Matter of Law: A Memoir of Struggle in the Cause of Equal Rights

In this dry but intriguing memoir, Carter, a U.S. District judge in New York, offers an insider's account of the legal battle to end segregation in the United States. Having served as Thurgood Marshall's chief legal assistant and then as General Counsel to the NAACP, Carter was pivotal in winning the Brown v. Board of Education case that outlawed racial segregation in public schools. Carter begins by describing his impoverished New Jersey childhood, the deaths of three of his siblings and the educational discrimination that ""toughened him for later battles with racism."" Although he also recounts his college years and his tumultuous experience in the army, Carter devotes most of the book to his legal career, detailing the events and strategies that led to the Brown vs. Board triumph. Perhaps most fascinating is Carter's take on the power struggles within the NAACP. Carter had a tepid relationship with Marshall, and he admits to feeling ""hurt and angry"" at being overlooked as his successor. Indeed, some may wonder if he still harbors a little of that anger; his portrayal of Marshall as a high-stakes gambler and an ambitious man who discarded people when their ""usefulness to him was over"" is less than flattering. Still, those who can take these details with a grain of salt and overlook Carter's plodding prose will find this a unique perspective on how the Civil Rights victory was won.