From the Annals of Segregation –  In 1946, Heman Sweatt accompanied by NAACP representatives met with University of Texas President Theo Painter to present his request for admission to the University of Texas School of Law.   Sweatt met all of the qualification for admission to the school – except for one minor detail – he was Black.  The Texas Constitution, Art. VII, Section 7 provided that “Separate schools shall be provided for the white and colored children, and impartial provision shall be made for both.”  The first part of the constitutional requirement was a fact – the second part was a joke.  His request was denied leading a long court battle.  Sweatt claimed that the Texas Constitution violated the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.  He sought mandamus to order Painter to enroll him.  The case was continued to allow the State to establish “The School of Law of the Texas State University for Negroes” in an old house north of the Capitol.  Based on the now discredited “separate but equal” doctrine, the state court denied Sweatt relief.  The case ended up in the U.S. Supreme Court  which held that the equal protection clause required that Sweatt be admitted into UT Law School.  The case did not completely invalidate the separate but equal doctrine but it was a major step in the right direction.