- [Crystal R, Sanders] Back in t began to see Black lawmakers strategically introducing laws across the South to secure educational opportunit for African Americans.

(slightly tense music) Missouri elects its first Black state legislator, and it was a man by the name of Walthall Moore.

So he introduces a bill in 1921 to upgrade Lincoln University, which was the only public Black college in that state.

His bill says, "Until the state invests as it should in Lincoln to make it the Black counterpart of the University of Missouri, the state should pay for Black r and secure the same educational opportunities that white residents have."

What we're gonna see is it's a domino effect.

Between 1921 and 1948, 16 Southe created these programs where they used tax dollars to compel African Americans to go out of state for anything beyond a bachelor's I have coined this tuition assis as segregation scholarships, because essentially, the purpose of this money is to preserve segregation.