Texas History Minute

What is the cost of changing the world? For those who dare, it can everything in their life, for good or ill Heman Sweatt put everything on the line for his bid to desegregate the University of

Texas law school, an effort that changed civil rights laws forever

Heman Marion Sweatt was born in Houston in December 1912 He was the fourth of seven children, and his parents were active and respected members of the community His father, who had moved to Houston from Waxahachie in 1900 to work as a railroad mail clerk, encouraged his children to pursue an education

Ultimately, the six surviving children would all graduate from college From an early age, Sweatt was idealistic and passionate about the cause of civil rights He began attending meetings of the civil rights organization NAACP while still a youth. He attended segregated schools in Houston, as was the law at the time, and graduated high school in 1930

He enrolled at Wiley College in Marshall and graduated with a bachelors degree in 1934 In 1936, he began teaching at a segregated school in Cleburne and even served as principal for a time In 1937, he enrolled at the University of Michigan to study medicine

However, after a year, he returned to Houston where he worked for the post office He married in 1940

After becoming secretary of the National Alliance of Postal Employees, a labor union, Sweatt became increasingly interested in law as he fought the built-in prohibitions against promoting black employees He was increasingly involved in voter registration drives and writing in newspapers owned by other African-Americans Attorneys and other civil rights activists suggested that Sweatt apply to the law school at the University of Texas Sweatt easily met all the requirements for the law school

However, UT President Theophilus Painter consulted with Attorney General Grover Sellers about Sweatt’s admission Sellers ordered that Sweatt be rejected because of his race Sweatt and his attorneys sued in May 1946, arguing that the state was not protecting his equal rights under law as there were no law schools for African-Americans in Texas at the time Courts ordered a new segregated law school be opened for AfricanAmericans (at what ultimately became Texas Southern University), but Sweatt refused

The new law school had none of the advantages of UT and was not even accredited Sweatt and his attorneys argued that the law school experience was more than just a building The experience, prestige, and level of education from some of of UT all but guaranteed a successful career for a Texas lawyer The only way he could receive an equal education was to enroll in the white law school

In the months after his first attempt to register and the endless court hearings, Sweatt was the victim of death threats and harassment daily Phone calls, letters, and strangers on the street poured on him like a tidal wave The pressures grew, and the stress began taking a toll on his health and his marriage Despite the dangers and the personal cost, Sweatt realized that too much was at stake – not just for him but for all that followed him The fight dragged on for years

In 1950, the Supreme Court ruled in Sweatt vs Painter that he had the right to enroll at the UT law school. He began classes in 1950 But the pressures had been too much His health was poor, and he missed several weeks for an operation And he and his wide divorced

He dropped out of the law school in 1952 His personal sacrifices permanently opened the law for other minority law students His case in part helped set the legal precedent used to overturn segregation in all public schools in the Brown vs Board of Education case two years later But leaving law school and the divorce was not the end of the journey for Sweatt Life often shows that when times seem the bleakest, a new chapter is about to begin And so it was for Sweatt

He moved forward, now going to Georgia where he enrolled in the Atlanta University Graduate School for Social Work, earning a masters degree by 1954 He began working for the Urban League, organizing voter registration drives and also with poverty and employment programs Sweatt also became a professor, teaching classes at Atlanta University while working with the Urban League Sweatt remarried in 1963, a happy union that produced two daughters He retired from the Urban League in 1977 He died at his home in Atlanta in 1982 at age 69

In the years after his death, scholars and jurists began to appreciate the importance of Sweatt’s stand Today, African Americans and members of all races can enter the law school without harassment and enjoy careers in law In 1987, the University of Texas began the Heman Sweatt Symposium in Civil Rights, an annual conference specializing in civil rights issues held in his honor In 2005, Travis County renamed the courts building where his initial hearings took place after Sweatt A scholarship for UT law students was also established in his memory

Dr Bridges is a Texas native, writer and history professor He

A time to speak and a time for silence

According to current census calculations, the population of our planet is rapidly approaching eight billion people

Along with this massive number, we know there has never been a time in history when this many individuals occupied the earth at the same time, but we can also agree that we have more philosophies, opinions, and worldviews than ever before This, in turn, brings us to a point in time where our arguments and conflicts have created a more difficult atmosphere to acknowledge what we believe without being mocked, ridiculed, and even persecuted With the creation and advancement of communication technology within the last fifty years, we are witnessing a social media grid that is capable of connecting the entire world together in an instant It’s true, this is an amazing way of uniting us, but unfortunately, it also presents a vehicle which increases the volume of chaos and controversy I am not against having the opportunity to relay our thoughts, but for the Christian, we can clearly see that our Biblical perspectives are becoming an increasing target of hostility from those who oppose We know the basic fundamentals of the Christian faith have always been an offense to the flesh and are seen as a direct threat to those who are focused on living and believing however they desire We are reminded in John chapter fifteen that without God’s grace opening our eyes we cannot see spiritual truth and these individuals who are devoted to a more humanistic philosophy will always reject Christ and his followers. Verse 19 is warning the follower of Christ to prepare for conflict “If you were of the world, the world would embrace you: but because you are no longer of this world, but I have chosen you out of this world, therefore the world hates you ” y Holland

The Bible uses the word enmity several times when referring to the attitude of the natural mind against the holy discipline of God’s character Truth is a refuge of peace and security for those who love the Lord, but is hated by the ones who want to live their own way If we take a closer look at the word enmity we find that it means a state of being actively opposed or hostile to someone or something Other words associated with enmity are, animosity, antagonism, bitterness, hatred, loathing, and resentment So, when we notice a Christian trying to relay God’s message, which by the way is a responsibility within the covenant of salvation and we see them being mocked and persecuted, we know what is really going on I pray for an awareness to share my faith and I believe that God can use us to relay his message However, I’m also convinced that we should always listen carefully to the Holy Spirit and only speak when he is guiding us We are not to be ashamed of Jesus or afraid of those who might reject us, but neither are we to be arrogant or stubborn and hinder what God is calling us to do

In Genesis chapter three, we see where one of the curses from the fall includes the enmity between the serpent and his seed versus the seed of the woman which would eventually include Christ This reveals why the realm of spiritual darkness is at war against God and those who follow him Each person is born depraved with an internal rebellion and is in need of being spiritually re-born and transformed which is exactly why Jesus went to the cross His blood paid the ransom for those who believe and his sacrifice is an invitation for anyone to accept divine redemption as John 3:16 describes, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life ” It’s no secret there are many today who believe that God does not exist while others conclude there is no afterlife or that everything we see somehow happened on its own, but we can agree this is a legitimate part of freewill Unbelievers are also convinced that anyone who would trust and worship the God of the have a burden that all would come to personally know God. The window of God’s amazing grace is open today

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