Smith v. Allwright

Smith v. Allwright was a landmark Supreme Court case in 1944 that ruled the white primary unconstitutional. This decision was a significant victory for the civil rights movement as it struck down a practice that had been used to disenfranchise African American voters in the South. The white primary was a discriminatory election practice that allowed only white voters to participate in primary elections, effectively excluding African Americans from the political process. The ruling in Smith v. Allwright helped pave the way for greater political participation and representation for African Americans, and it set an important precedent for future civil rights cases. This case was a crucial step in the fight for equal voting rights and helped to dismantle institutionalized racism in the electoral process.