In Sweatt v. Painter (1950), the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) built a pivotal case in the history of school segregation. Sweatt represents the first time the Court ordered a traditionally White university to admit an African American student instead of sending him to an African American university. In a crucial finding, the Court held not only that facilities and their resources were unequal but also that the simple separation of the African American student from his White peers resulted in an unequal education opportunity.

The outcome in this and a related case formed the gateway to integration, as the Supreme Court ordered the admittance of African American students into traditionally White graduate and professional schools. In addition, Sweatfs groundbreaking analysis became ...