Lloyd Gaines

Atlantic staff writer Adam Harris discusses his book “The State Must Provide,” which explores the long history of inequality in higher education — and offers provocative remedies for the funding shortfalls that plague universities serving students of color.

Lloyd Gaines never studied at the University of Missouri Law School. Still, his efforts to get in as a black student in the 1930s had a major impact on…

This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Sept. 20, 2009 - The French brought the first Africans to the Upper Louisiana territory in the 18th…