The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 86, July 1982 - April, 1983 Page: 325
616 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
Blacks Challenge the White University
Supreme Court justices also knew more about legal education than
other fields. Association lawyers believed that there would be less pub-
lic opposition to desegregation of law schools. Since few women at-
tended, the public's perceived threat of intermarriage would be mini-
mized. General awareness that white and black lawyers competed
against each other in court was also expected to mitigate opposition.
Texas, where racial hostility was less intense than in the Deep South,
was a logical site. The fact that a Negro law school did not even exist
made the state a tempting target, and the University, with its secure fi-
nancial base and its prestigious law school, would be a sharp contrast
to any facilities for blacks the state might hastily improvise. Finally, the
existence of a numerically and financially powerful NAACP organiza-
tion in Texas was another consideration, for it would have to bear the
cost of the litigation.
While desegregating the University of Texas had loomed as a long-
term goal of the Association leaders, many envisaged a more limited
achievement. Although a stated objective of blacks in founding the
Texas State Conference of NAACP Branches in 1937 was to open the
University, few of them expected the lawsuit to sweep aside suddenly
the barriers they had faced for a lifetime. If the Association's policy
stood steadfastly against all forms of segregation, to many Negroes the
creation of their own state university would be a successful, if tempo-
rary, resolution of the case. Even the legal strategy of invoking the "sep-
arate but equal" doctrine to force the state to provide equal facilities
for blacks or admit them to white institutions encouraged the estab-
lishment of Jim Crow schools. As the Sweatt litigation proceeded, how-
ever, and the NAACP's strategy changed to a frontal assault on segre-
gation per se, the ultimate objective of desegregating the University
came into sharper focus."
The University administration had no doubts that Sweatt's action
was to be a constitutional test. Although the applicant denied mem-
bership in any "crusading Negro group," the NAACP had for months
publicized its intention of filing such a lawsuit. Another indication was
loCharles H. Houston, memorandum for the use of Roscoe Dunjee in re Texas State
Conference, May 7-8, 1937, Box G-2oo, NAACP Files (Library of Congress); Thurgood
Marshall to Erwin N. Griswold, June 14, 1948, "University of Oklahoma, June to Decem-
ber, 1948," Legal Files, ibid.; Marshall to M. L. G., Oct. 31, 1974, interview.
11Resolutions-State Conference of Branches, Dallas, Texas, June 19, 1937; Minutes of
the Texas State Conference of Branches, NAACP, June 18, 19, 1937, Box G-2oo, NAACP
Files; A. Maceo Smith to Carter W. Wesley, Mar. 21, 1946, "Branch Files, Houston, 1944-
1946," ibid.325
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Periodical.
Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 86, July 1982 - April, 1983, periodical, 1982/1983; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101209/m1/361/: accessed May 7, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.