Podcast Pick: In Black America
John L. Hanson Jr. Speaks with Author Gary M. Lavergne
On this edition of In Black America, producer/host John L. Hanson Jr. speaks with Gary M. Lavergne, author of Before Brown: Heman Marion Sweatt, Thurgood Marshall and the Long Road To Justice.
On February 26, 1946, a 33-year-old African American mail carrier from Houston, TX applied for admission to the University of Texas School of Law. Although he met all of the school’s academic qualifications, Heman Marion Sweatt was denied admission because of his race.
He challenged the university’s decision in court, and the resulting case, Sweatt v. Painter, went to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled in Sweatt’s favor. The Sweatt case paved the way for the landmark Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka rulings that finally opened the doors to higher education for all African Americans and desegregated public education in this country.