The Mississippi Boycotts, etc.
Integrating Ole Miss
In September 1962, Air Force veteran James Meredith won a federal court case that allowed him to enroll in the all-white University of Mississippi, nicknamed Ole Miss. But when Meredith arrived on campus, he faced Governor Ross Barnett, who refused to let him register as a student.
President Kennedy ordered federal marshals to escort Meredith to the registrar's office. Barnett responded with a heated radio appeal: "I call on every Mississippian to keep his faith and courage. We will never surrender." The broadcast turned out white demonstrators by thousands.
On the night of September 30, riots broke out on campus, resulting in two deaths. It took thousands of soldiers, 200 arrests and 15 hours to stop the rioters. In the months that followed, federal officials accompanied Meredith to class and protected his parents from night-riders who shot up their house.
In early June of 1966, tensions that had been building between SNCC and the other civil rights groups finally erupted in Mississippi. Here, James Meredith, the man who integrated the University of Mississippi, set out of on 255-mile "walk against fear." Meredith planned to walk all the way from the Tennessee border to Jackson, but he was shot by a white racist and was too injured to continue. Martin Luther King Jr., of the SCLC, Floyd McKissick of CORE, and Stokely Carmichael of SNCC decided to lead their followers in a march to finish what Meredith had started.
Integrating Ole Miss
In September 1962, Air Force veteran James Meredith won a federal court case that allowed him to enroll in the all-white University of Mississippi, nicknamed Ole Miss. But when Meredith arrived on campus, he faced Governor Ross Barnett, who refused to let him register as a student.
President Kennedy ordered federal marshals to escort Meredith to the registrar's office. Barnett responded with a heated radio appeal: "I call on every Mississippian to keep his faith and courage. We will never surrender." The broadcast turned out white demonstrators by thousands.
On the night of September 30, riots broke out on campus, resulting in two deaths. It took thousands of soldiers, 200 arrests and 15 hours to stop the rioters. In the months that followed, federal officials accompanied Meredith to class and protected his parents from night-riders who shot up their house.
In early June of 1966, tensions that had been building between SNCC and the other civil rights groups finally erupted in Mississippi. Here, James Meredith, the man who integrated the University of Mississippi, set out of on 255-mile "walk against fear." Meredith planned to walk all the way from the Tennessee border to Jackson, but he was shot by a white racist and was too injured to continue. Martin Luther King Jr., of the SCLC, Floyd McKissick of CORE, and Stokely Carmichael of SNCC decided to lead their followers in a march to finish what Meredith had started.
Freedom Summer
Meanwhile, the right of all African Americans to vote remained the elusive. In 1964, Core and SNCC workers in the South began registering as many African Americans as they could to vote. They hoped their campaign would receive national publicity, which would in turn influence Congress to pass a voting rights act. Focused in Mississippi, the project became known as Freedom Summer.
To fortify the project, civil rights group recruited college students and trained them in nonviolent resistance. Thousands of students volunteers-- mostly white, about one-third female-- went into Mississippi to help register voters. For some, the job proved deadly. In June of 1964, three civil rights workers disappeared in Neshoba County, Mississippi. Investigators later learned that Klansmen and local police had murdered the men, two of whom were white. Through the summer the racial bearings and murders continued, along with the burning of businesses, homes, and churches.
Meanwhile, the right of all African Americans to vote remained the elusive. In 1964, Core and SNCC workers in the South began registering as many African Americans as they could to vote. They hoped their campaign would receive national publicity, which would in turn influence Congress to pass a voting rights act. Focused in Mississippi, the project became known as Freedom Summer.
To fortify the project, civil rights group recruited college students and trained them in nonviolent resistance. Thousands of students volunteers-- mostly white, about one-third female-- went into Mississippi to help register voters. For some, the job proved deadly. In June of 1964, three civil rights workers disappeared in Neshoba County, Mississippi. Investigators later learned that Klansmen and local police had murdered the men, two of whom were white. Through the summer the racial bearings and murders continued, along with the burning of businesses, homes, and churches.
A New Political Party
African Americans needed a voice in the political arena if sweeping change was to occur In order to gain a seat in Mississippi's all-white Democratic Party, SNCC organized the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP). Fannie Lou Hamer, the daughter of Mississippi sharecroppers, would be their voice at the 1964 Democratic National Convention. In a televised speech that shocked the convention and viewers nationwide, Hamer described how she was jailed for registering to vote in 1962, and how police forced prisoners to beat her.
In response to Hamer’s speech, telegrams and telephone calls poured in to the convention in support of seating the MFDP delegates. President Johnson feared losing the Southern white vote if the Democrats sided with the MFDP, so his administration pressured civil rights leaders to convince the MFDP to accept a compromise. The Democrats would give 2 of Mississippi’s 68 seats to the MFDP, with a promise to ban discrimination at the 1968 convention.
Lauren R.
African Americans needed a voice in the political arena if sweeping change was to occur In order to gain a seat in Mississippi's all-white Democratic Party, SNCC organized the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP). Fannie Lou Hamer, the daughter of Mississippi sharecroppers, would be their voice at the 1964 Democratic National Convention. In a televised speech that shocked the convention and viewers nationwide, Hamer described how she was jailed for registering to vote in 1962, and how police forced prisoners to beat her.
In response to Hamer’s speech, telegrams and telephone calls poured in to the convention in support of seating the MFDP delegates. President Johnson feared losing the Southern white vote if the Democrats sided with the MFDP, so his administration pressured civil rights leaders to convince the MFDP to accept a compromise. The Democrats would give 2 of Mississippi’s 68 seats to the MFDP, with a promise to ban discrimination at the 1968 convention.
Lauren R.