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A newspaper in education Supplement to THE WASHINGTON TIMES
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WEDNESDAY • AUGUST 28 • 2013
James Meredith & Ole Miss
A 28-year-old married veteran of the Air
Force, James Meredith had studied for two years
at Jackson State University. But Meredith wanted
a better legal education than the historically black
university could offer, and he wanted to get it at
Ole Miss.
He tried to enroll at Ole Miss (University of
Mississippi). His application was neither ac-
cepted nor rejected, leaving his status in limbo. All universities in
the South were segregated. With the help of the NAACP his case
was fought in the courts for 16 months. On September 10, 1962 the
Supreme Court upheld Meredith’s right to attend Ole Miss.
Three days later, Mississippi Governor Ross Barnett told a TV
audience, “…There is no case in history where the Caucasian race
has survived social integration,” and that the state, “…will not
drink from the cup of genocide.” He also spoke at a football game
against the “tyrannical” interference by outsiders in Mississippi’s
affairs.
Behind the scenes Attorney General Robert Kennedy negotiat-
ed with and reached an agreement with Gov. Barnett for Meredith
to attend to Ole Miss. Meredith was secretly escorted on campus
on Sunday, September 30, 1962. Stationed on campus or nearby
were 123 deputy federal marshals, 316 U.S. Border Patrolmen, and
97 prison guards. They were assaulted that night by a mob that
reached 2,000 people with guns, bricks, and bottles. Federal troops
were finally sent in to quell the warfare. Two people were killed, 28
marshals were shot, and 160 people injured.
Monday morning James Meredith became the first black person
to register at Ole Miss or any college in the South. He graduated in
1963.
"Nobody handpicked me," Meredith would later say, crediting
President John F. Kennedy's inaugural address as inspiring him to
attempt what had never before been achieved. "I believed, and I
believe now, that I have a divine responsibility to break white su-
premacy in Mississippi, and getting in Ole Miss was only the start."
Learn more at:
President John F. Kennedy Orders Equal
Opportunity in Employment and Housing
Executive Order 10925
On March 6, 1961 President John F. Kennedy issued Executive Order 10925, with the
intent to affirm the government's commitment to equal opportunity and to take positive
action to strengthen efforts to realize true equal opportunity for all. It established
a Presidential committee that later became the Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission.
An excerpt from the Executive Order states:
The contractor will not discriminate
against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. The contractor will take affirmative
action to ensure that applicants are employed, and that employees are treated during employment, without regard to their race, color, religion,
sex or national origin. Such action shall include, but not be limited to the following: employment, upgrading, demotion, or transfer; recruitment or
recruitment advertising; layoff or termination; rates of pay or other forms of compensation; and selection for training, including apprenticeship.
Executive Order 11063
Kennedy upheld a 1960 campaign promise to eliminate housing segregation by signing on November 20, 1962 Executive Order
11063 banning segregation in Federally funded housing. The Order "prohibits discrimination in the sale, leasing, rental, or other
disposition of properties and facilities owned or operated by the federal government or provided with federal funds."
Integration at University of Mississippi--James Meredith accompanied to class by U.S. marshals at Oxford, MS, October 1, 1962.
Credit: Marion S. Trikosko / Library of Congress
