Your Honor, you of all people should understand the importance of being first.
You were the first in your family to serve in the Armed Forces. US Navy. The first to attend University. George Mason. And you are the first State Judge to be re-commissioned by three consecutive Governors.
The point is, your Honor...
No Negro woman in the State of Virginia has ever attended an all white school.
It’s unheard of.
And before Alan Shepard sat on top of a rocket, no American had ever touched space.
He will forever be remembered as the Navy man from New Hampshire who was the first to touch the stars.
And I, sir, plan on being an engineer at NASA. But I can’t do that without taking those classes at that all-white high school. And I can’t change the color of my skin. So... I have no choice but to be the first. Which I can’t do without you.
Your Honor, of all the cases you’ll hear today, which one will matter in a hundred years? Which one will make you the first?
