The Importance of Sweatt v. Painter

Sweatt, the African-American at the center of the case

The Supreme Court case Sweatt v. Painter (1950) was a landmark civil rights case that is often overshadowed by the better-known Brown v. Board of Education. The case of Sweatt v. Painter dealt with an African-American, Sweatt, being denied entry into the School of Law at the University of Texas. Sweatt was denied entry on the ground that he was an African-American and Texas state law forbade the integration of schools. A separate Law School was set up for African-Americans in order to maintain the façade of equality. Sweatt challenged this separate Law School made for African-Americans, arguing that the accommodations were not equal to the School of Law at the University of Texas. Eventually the case was brought before the Supreme Court, which decided that the accommodations of the segregated Law School were not equal and that under the Equal Protection Clause of the 14^th Amendment Sweatt had the right to attend the School of Law at the University of Texas.

Thurgood Marshall, future Supreme Court justice, argued the case for the NAACP

The Supreme Court case of Sweatt v. Painter was important because the justices came to the decision that “separate, but equal” was an oxymoron that did not provide true equality. By ruling that the segregated law schools were not equal the Supreme Court also undid the precedent set by Plessy v. Ferguson.

I find the case of Sweatt v. Painter to be remarkably important. It showed that gradually, the Supreme Court was ruling that the decision in Plessy v. Ferguson was erroneous. By ruling on a case that only applied to higher education the Supreme Court also showed that it was taking small steps towards ruling that segregation in all public schools was unconstitutional, as seen in Brown v. Board of Education. I find it interesting that Brown v. Board of Education is often shown as the turning point in Civil Rights cases, when four years earlier the case of Sweatt v. Painter showed a shift in the opinion of the Supreme Court towards race and equality.

The Supreme Court of Sweatt v. Painter signaled a paradigm shift on the Supreme Court’s views of race and civil rights. Sweatt v. Painter nullified the precedent of over fifty years set by Plessy v. Ferguson that segregation was “separate, but equal”. It was the first small steps towards racial equality in America.