COLUMBIA, S.C. — When looking into the history of how schools become desegregated, you likely think of the milestone case Brown v. Board of Education.
Lawmakers, activists, and educators gathered in Clarendon County to hear from those who filed a motion to the Supreme Court, asking them to correct an omission regarding the milestone decision of Brown v Board of Education.
An attorney representing the Briggs family, Tom Mullikin, and others are filing a petition, asking the court to rename the case to Briggs v. Elliot.
"There was a price for being first. It's in no way to denigrate the actions of the Brown family and Kansas or the other states. But there is where it started and this is where the fight took place, and it was an important fight," Mullikin said.
Brown v. Board of Education was decided in May 1954, and Briggs v. Elliot in 1952.
The Briggs family, represented by Nathaniel Briggs, has wished for equal name access to the case that played a role in the milestone decision to desegregate schools for going on seventy years.
"Everybody I have ran into around this country know only about Brown. And I, doing a program with Briggs v Elliot, try to explain to them there is another case, the first case.," Briggs said.
Briggs, however, wants the history to be rewritten not only for his family but for others who stood with them in a time of uncertainty. "It's Briggs and others v. Elliot," he stated, "sometimes we get it lost, and we don't mention those other folks who suffered with my parents."
Cecil Williams, a Civil Rights photographer, says that for petitioners during these desegregation efforts, being first in attacking segregation did matter.
"This is just the first step to a long uphill battle until this case receives its rightful place in history. And we are up to the task as long as we have the mind, the body, and the spirit to be able to go forward with that," said Williams.
The petition made it to the desk of the U.S. Supreme Court today. Nathaniel Briggs, along with his constituents, looks forward to the discussions to come in, asking the court to correct their prior decisions and name Briggs v. Elliot as the first case to make efforts in desegregating schools in the United States.