Using Missouri-based judicial opinions, this Essay demonstrates the
influence of majoritarian narratives and how evolving rhetoric perpetuated
stagnant narratives. In other words, these opinions, when viewed in histori-
cal context, demonstrate how the "status quo narrative" continued in society
even after the law changed. This Essay examines opinions centered on both
the legal and de facto segregation of African Americans and whites in three
landmark cases: State ex rel. Gaines v. Canada,29 Kraemer v. Shelley,30 and
Liddell v. Board ofEducation.