First Step: A Road Map to the Fight for School Integration

In 1847, a young African American girl named Sarah Roberts tried to attend a white school in Boston. After being forced out of the school because of her race, Sarah and her family fought for her right to have an equal education. It was the first case asking our legal system to outlaw separate schools. It was the first time an African-American lawyer worked in a supreme court. It was also the first time an African-American lawyer and a white lawyer teamed up to fight for justice. Three important steps forward. Although her court case was not victorious, Sarah's first steps paved the way for the changes that ultimately led to triumph in the landmark Brown vs. Board of Education case more than a century later, and in countless other steps toward equality under the law.