The prevailing narrative of the American Civil Rights Movement often celebrates the triumphant culmination of its legal battles, particularly the landmark 1954 Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education. This view casts the law as a powerful, neutral instrument of justice, finally wielded to strike down the tyranny of segregation. While not inaccurate, … Continue reading The Law as Sword and Shield: Litigation, Protest, and the Ambiguous Legacy of Legal Strategy in the Civil Rights Movement