Final answer:
The early focus of the NAACP was to challenge and overturn Jim Crow laws, specifically targeting segregation in education and culminating in the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision.
Step-by-step explanation:
Early Focus of the NAACP
The early focus of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was to challenge and overturn Jim Crow laws, with a significant aim to address segregation in public education. One of its earliest and most noteworthy legal successes was challenging segregation within higher educational institutions. Through a series of court cases, the NAACP fought against racial discrimination, advocating for equal opportunities in education, which culminated in the 1954 landmark decision, Brown v. Board of Education, that ruled segregating public schools to be unconstitutional. Prior to this, the NAACP's legal strategy, led by notable figures like Thurgood Marshall, pushed the South to adhere more strictly to the 'separate but equal' doctrine, prompting some Southern states to invest in black colleges as a way to maintain segregation while ostensibly providing equal facilities.