nigra race into our theaters, into our swimming pools, into
our homes, and into our churches.”
He would be proved wrong. The rulings of the Supreme
Court meant that southern educational facilities had to be
desegregated, including the University of Mississippi in
Oxford. In 1962, after a long legal battle, federal courts
ruled that James Meredith, a young black air force veteran,
had to be admitted to “Ole Miss.” Opposition to the
implementation of this ruling was orchestrated by the so-
called Citizens’ Councils, the first of which had been
formed in Indianola, Mississippi, in 1954 to fight
desegregation of the South. State governor Ross Barnett
publicly rejected the court-ordered desegregation on
television on September 13, announcing that state
universities would close before they agreed to be
desegregated. Finally, after much negotiation between
Barnett and President John Kennedy and Attorney General
Robert Kennedy in Washington, the federal government
intervened forcibly to implement this ruling. A day was set
when U.S. marshals would bring Meredith to Oxford. In
anticipation, white supremacists began to organize. On
September 30, the day before Meredith was due to
appear, U.S. marshals entered the university campus and
surrounded the main administration building. A crowd of
about 2,500 came to protest, and soon a riot broke out.
The marshals used tear gas to disperse the rioters, but
soon came under fire. By 10:00 p.m. that night, federal
troops were moved into the city to restore order. Soon
there were 20,000 troops and 11,000 National Guardsmen
in Oxford. In total, 300 people would be arrested. Meredith
decided to stay on campus, where, protected from death
threats by U.S. marshals and 300 soldiers, he eventually
graduated.
Federal legislation was pivotal in the process of
institutional reform in the South. During the passage of the
first Civil Rights Act in 1957, Strom Thurmond, then a
senator, spoke nonstop for twenty-four hours and eighteen
minutes to prevent, or at least delay, passage of the act.
During his speech he read everything from the Declaration
of Independence to various phone books. But to no avail.
The 1957 act culminated in the Civil Rights Act of 1964
outlawing a whole gamut of segregationist state legislation