The Chestang family petitioned the Mobile County School Board to admit their son to the public school for white children. The Board denied the petition, so the Chestangs appealed with the Alabama Supreme Court. Relying on Farmer v. Board, the court held that no child with any amount of Black ancestry could be admitted to a public school for white children. The Chestang family presented their son to the court to prove that he was white based on his appearance.  To the court, appearance did not matter as much as heritage. This idea was casually known as the “one-drop rule,” which suggested that people with even “one drop” of blood from a Black ancestor were legally considered Black and thus able to be denied the privileges available to white people.  [130 words]