Supreme Court orders Texas to admit Black law student in Sweatt

The Supreme Court rules in Sweatt v. Painter on June 5, 1950, that Texas must admit Heman Sweatt to the University of Texas Law School because the separate Black law school created for him is not equal. The Court looks beyond formal facilities and considers reputation, faculty, alumni influence, and professional opportunity. The ruling weakens separate-but-equal doctrine before Brown v. Board of Education. Graduate and professional school segregation denied Black students equal access to power and opportunity.