Breaking Down Barriers: George McLaurin and the Struggle to End Segregated Education

In 1948, the University of Oklahoma denied admission to African Americans, but an elderly teacher named George McLaurin became the first African American to enroll in 1948. McLaurin's case, championed by the NAACP, drew national attention and culminated in a U.S. Supreme Court decision. David W. Levy's book "Breaking Down Barriers" chronicles McLaurin's two-year struggle to secure his rights, revealing his private life and the bizarre contortions university officials had to perform to accord with the state's mandate to keep black and white students apart. The case led directly to the 1954 landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education, which declared that flawed policy unconstitutional.

\n Format: Paperback / softback
\n Length: 246 pages
\n Publication date: 30 September 2020
\n Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
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For nearly sixty years, the University of Oklahoma, in obedience to state law, denied admission to African Americans. Only in October 1948 did this racial barrier start to break down, when an elderly teacher named George McLaurin became the first African American to enroll at the university. McLaurin's case, championed by the NAACP, drew national attention and culminated in a U.S. Supreme Court decision.

In Breaking Down Barriers, distinguished historian David W. Levy chronicles the historically significant—and at times poignant—story of McLaurin's two-year struggle to secure his rights. Through exhaustive research, Levy has uncovered as much as we can know about George McLaurin (1887-1968), a notably private person. A veteran educator, he was fully qualified for admission as a graduate student in the university's School of Education. When the university denied his application, solely on the basis of race, McLaurin received immediate assistance from the NAACP and its lead attorney Thurgood Marshall, who brilliantly defended his case in state and federal courts.

On his very first day of class, as Levy details, McLaurin had to sit in a special alcove, separate from the white students in the classroom. Photographs of McLaurin in this humiliating position set off a firestorm of national outrage. Dozens of other African American men and women followed McLaurin to the university, and Levy reviews the many bizarre contortions that university officials had to perform, often against their own inclinations, to accord with the state's mandate to keep black and white students apart in classrooms, the library, cafeterias, and dormitories, and the football stadium.

Ultimately, in 1950, the U.S. Supreme Court, swayed by the arguments of Marshall and his co-counsel Robert Carter, ruled in McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents that racial segregation in public education was unconstitutional. The decision marked a landmark victory for the civil rights movement and paved the way for the desegregation of schools and other public institutions across the United States.

In conclusion, George McLaurin's two-year struggle to secure his rights at the University of Oklahoma is a testament to the power of perseverance, courage, and the pursuit of equality. Levy's book provides a detailed account of this historic case, shedding light on the challenges faced by African Americans in the segregated South and the significant role played by the NAACP and its legal team in achieving desegregation. McLaurin's story continues to inspire generations of Americans to fight for justice and equality.

\n Weight: 348g\n
Dimension: 152 x 229 x 18 (mm)\n
ISBN-13: 9780806167220\n
Edition number: New ed\n