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Seven Justices ruled against Plessy, but one, Justice Harlan, dissented. He asserted that justice should be color blind and that the enforcement of "separate but equal" interferes with the personal freedoms of individuals by legally forcing separation. As he stated, "Sixty million whites are in no danger from the presence of eight millions of Blacks.The destinies of the two races in this country are indissolubly linked together, and the interest of both require that the common government of all shall not permit the seeds of race hate to be planted under the sanction of law." He foresaw that the decision would lead to a pattern of behavior which would be very dangerous and undermine a basic sense of justice. This makes Justice Harlan another very important rebel towards desegregation because he is expressing controversial and unique at that time. No other supreme court justice said anything like that, or would. He sets the ball moving to say what's really all that bad with blacks, they just want a equal chance.
Before the Brown decision came about a series of Supreme Court decisions on specific educational challenges helped to lead to the Brown verdict. The first was that universities must admit Blacks to graduate facilities if a desired course of study was not available in a Black institution. Then in Sipuel v. Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma, in 1948, the Court ruled that Blacks must be admitted to state universities because they offered many opportunities not available in Black institutions. In 1950 in Sweatt v. Painter, the Court ruled that a separate Black law school, established for Sweatt after he sued for admission to the University of Texas Law School, was unequal not only in physical facilities and curriculum but in reputation and opportunity for stimulating professional contact. In Laurin v. Oklahoma State Regents, also in 1950, the Court ruled that the state violated the "separate but equal" doctrine when it required isolated cafeteria and classroom seating for Black students because it produced unequal educational opportunity.
