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McLaurin vs. Oklahoma State Regents

McLaurin, a Black citizen of Oklahoma possessing a master’s degree, was admitted to the graduate school of the state-supported University of Oklahoma as a candidate for a doctorate in education and was permitted to use the same classroom, library and cafeteria as White students. Pursuant to a requirement of state law that the instruction of Negroes in institutions of higher education be “upon a segregated basis,” however, he was assigned to a seat in the classroom in a row specified for Black students, was assigned to a special table in the library, and, although permitted to eat in the cafeteria at the same time as other students, was assigned to a special table there.

Outcome - The court ruled in 1950 that the conditions under which he was required to receive his education deprived him of his personal and present right to the equal protection of the laws; and that the Fourteenth Amendment precludes such differences in treatment by the state based upon race.