Between 1964 and 1975, as public schools in the Deep South begin to slowly desegregate through federal court orders, at least half a million white students are withdrawn from public schools nationwide to avoid mandatory desegregation. Private school enrollment across the South increases by more than …
White Citizens' CouncilsSouthern state legislaturesJerry Falwell Sr.Private school founderssegregation-academieswhite-flightprivate-school-subsidiesreligious-right-originspublic-education-undermining
In March 1956, the Mississippi Legislature creates the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission (MSSC), a state agency tasked with fighting integration and controlling civil rights activism. Active from 1956 to 1973 and directed by the governor and other top elected officials, the Commission employs …
Mississippi LegislatureRoss BarnettMississippi State Sovereignty CommissionWhite Citizens' Councilsmassive-resistancegovernment-surveillancestate-sovereignty-commissioncitizens-councils-fundingcivil-rights-suppression
The White Citizens’ Councils reach peak membership of between 250,000 and 300,000 individuals in 1956, establishing a national body known as the Citizens’ Councils of America. The movement, led by Mississippi Circuit Court Judge Tom P. Brady and first formed on July 11, 1954 in response …
White Citizens' CouncilsTom P. BradyRoss BarnettAllen C. ThompsonM. Ney Williamssegregationwhite-supremacybusiness-elitecorporate-resistancecivil-rights-opposition+1 more
Two months after the Brown v. Board of Education ruling, Mississippi Circuit Court Judge Tom P. Brady delivers a strident speech opposing integration that is later expanded into a ninety-page tract titled “Black Monday” and distributed widely as a rallying cry for organized white …
Robert B. PattersonTom P. BradyWhite Citizens' CouncilsMississippi business classMississippi State Sovereignty Commissionmassive-resistancewhite-citizens-councilssegregation-infrastructurebusiness-backingcivil-rights-opposition