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Sweatt V. Segregation: Supreme Court Case Study

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Sweatt v. Painter
Malcolm X stated, “Segregation is that which is forced upon an inferior by a superior. Separation is done voluntarily by two equals (X, M., n.d.).” Racial separation by force of law was a historic custom in the United States until the decision of Sweatt v, Painter by the Supreme Court of the United States on 1950. Segregation is the physical separation of peoples on the basis of ethnicity and social custom historically applied to separate African Americans and Mexican Americans from whites. The manner in which segregation of the races by state action in a variety of contexts became established at law, in the face of the Fourteenth Amendment's prohibiting a state from denying to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws, is perhaps best revealed by the case of Plessey v. Ferguson, decided by the Supreme Court around 1900. The case Plessey v. Ferguson involved the segregation of the races on a common carrier, the separate but equal doctrine utilized in the case to sanction segregation in that situation however subsequently …show more content…

Such education is not available to him in a separate law school as offered by the State. We cannot, therefore agree with respondents that the doctrine of Plessy v. Ferguson, requires affirmance of the judgment below. Nor need we reach petitioner’s contention that Plessy v. Ferguson should be reexamined in the light of contemporary knowledge respecting the purposes of the Fourteenth Amendment and the effects of racial segregation. We hold that the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment requires that petitioner be admitted to the University of Texas Law School. The judgment is reversed and the cause is remanded for proceedings nit inconsistent with this opinion (FindLaw's United States Supreme Court case and opinions.

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