McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education

McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education represents a watershed for the Civil Rights Movement in the United States. In conjunction with Sweatt v. Painter (1950), in which, on the same day that it announced its ruling in McLaurin , the Court ruled that the University of Texas Law School had to admit African American students despite the existence of traditionally black law schools within the state, the case marked the beginning of the end of the legal doctrine of separate but equal within higher education in the United States. Despite Chief Justice Vinson's death in 1953, the Court continued its advocacy of racial integration under his successor, Earl Warren. Under Warren, the Court completely disposed of the doctrine of separate but equal and delivered what may be its most famous and influential decision: that states could not bar children of African American descent from attending public primary and secondary schools in Brown v. Board of Education (1954).