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April 1944

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Resistance
Smith v. Allwright Strikes Down Texas White Primary

Thurgood Marshall argued and won an 8-1 Supreme Court ruling that the all-white Democratic primary in Texas — effectively the only election that mattered in the one-party South — violated the Fifteenth Amendment. The decision opened primaries to Black voters in Texas and challenged the legal basis of white primaries across the South.

Events

  1. April 3, 1944
    Smith v. Allwright Strikes Down Texas White Primary

    Thurgood Marshall argued and won an 8-1 Supreme Court ruling that the all-white Democratic primary in Texas — effectively the only election that mattered in the one-party South — violated the Fifteenth Amendment. The decision opened primaries to Black voters in Texas and challenged the legal basis of white primaries across the South.

  2. April 3, 1944
    Smith v. Allwright

    The Supreme Court bans the all-white primary, a key tool of disenfranchisement.