July 15, 1964

Ozell Sutton, an African American man, attempted to eat a meal in the Arkansas State Capitol cafeteria. The Civil Rights Act of 1964, which required the desegregation of public accommodations, had become national law just two weeks earlier. However, Sutton was refused service. The Fourteenth Amendment’s “equal protection” clause, which forbids government from engaging in racial discrimination but was understood not to cover private businesses, already covered the cafeteria. The courts had previously upheld that businesses operating in conjunction with state entities could not discriminate against Black customers. On this basis, Sutton had the right to eat at the capitol cafeteria even before the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. On September 16, Sutton, backed by National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) attorneys, filed a class-action suit against the Capitol Club in the U.S. District Court. Secretary of State Kelly Bryant announced that the cafeteria would reopen to the public. The next day, Sutton returned alone to the cafeteria where he had been refused service ten months earlier. He joined the line, collected his food, and ate lunch without incident.