Civil Rights in Mississippi - Research Paper Example

?The Battle of Ole Miss Civil Rights in Mississippi must be underwritten by the strength of federal law and its enforcement or suffer being undermined by state’s rights and the laws of Mississippi. That was the case before the civil rights movement. The subtitle of chapter two in Frank Lambert’s book, The Battle of Ole Miss, quotes William Faulkner. It reads, The past is never dead. It’s not even past. The roots of racism and bigotry in Mississippi run deep and have not been easily dug up. The traditions that have guided and perhaps still influence race relations in Mississippi are very old. They stem back to pre-civil war time. Mr. Lambert writes “…the book is more than a story of students; it is a chapter in two big struggles that provide the context for the events of 1962: Mississippi’s states rights claims, with roots extending back to the Civil War and Reconstruction, and African Americans’ struggle for full civil rights, also grounded in Reconstruction.” (4) The state’s rights addressed in the book are also state laws. Therefore the machinery of the federal government had to be involved in creating change in the area of civil rights. However, many of the state laws used to maintain the disparity regarding segregation were unashamedly contrary to the rights the United States Constitution guarantees all citizens. In 1890 the state drafted a constitution that called for stringent segregation of whites and blacks. This gave legal authority for every white person in the state to maintain, as well as propagate, white supremacy. Over and over, the State of Mississippi would make the case that the federal government had no say in the issue of civil rights for its black citizens. As Mr. Lambert points out, “armed with that [state] constitutional authority and imbued with the firm conviction of white supremacy, state officials used every means within their power, plus some that were outside the law, to enforce segregation. Sometimes this included the terrifying practice of lynching. In the years between 1904 and 1908 there was an average of one lynching every twenty-five days. In Lambert’s book, he shows the intricacies and complexities of this long fought battle by taking us on the journeys of James Meredith, who fought for the equality the U S constitution granted and his challenger, Governor Ross Barnett, who fought for state’s rights as set forth in the Mississippi state constitution. Meredith wanted the freedoms enjoyed by white students in Mississippi. Barnett wanted to keep his power from being infringed upon by the federal government. Had Meredith enjoyed the power that Barnett held, this would have been a classic battle of titans. But Meredith did not have the power and privilege Barnett possessed. Barnett had state laws and tradition on his side. He also had the power to legally enforce state law, even though it contradicted Federal law. Meredith had neither wealth, fame, tradition, political power nor public support on his side. He was pinning his hope on the new administration of President John F. Kennedy. Meredith developed a well thought out plan which rested heavily on President Kennedy keeping his campaign promises to end segregation. There could be no political support for Meredith from within Mississippi. The climate regarding segregation at that time was clear to everyone in the state. The rule, spoken or unspoken, was that if you did not support the state’s policy of segregation you could not expect to hold any public office. Savvy politicians in Mississippi knew that the racial issue was not just “an important issue, it was the paramount issue,” in the state. (98) The extent of segregation in Mississippi at that time was unmistakably defined in the culture. James Meredith wanted to break down the impregnable walls of segregation at the state’s most prestigious center for higher learning. He wanted to be the first black student to enroll at Ole Miss, the University of Mississippi. He wanted the same advantages as the white students in the state. He knew that in the current culture of Mississippi, one could not expect to join the ranks of professionals such as doctors and lawyers without receiving a degree from Ole Miss. The prevailing culture of his day mandated that the only professional position an African American could hope for was that of a teacher or preacher. Meredith wanted to change this way of life. His well thought out plan included a short list of objectives. Paramount in his plan was to make his experience of attempting to enroll at Ole Miss very public. He wanted it to be so public that President Kennedy and his attorney general would be forced to get involved. Getting involved for James Meredith meant that the federal government would force compliance of the new laws regarding desegregation and integration across the country and especially in the Deep South. He knew that without the federal government backing him, he would not have a chance at succeeding in his attempt to enroll as a student at Ole Miss. In the southern culture, James Meredith grew up where Negroes were constantly reminded that they were second class citizens. There were separate toilets, separate stores, separate doctors for blacks. Most Negroes had no other option than to work for white land owners or otherwise make their living by offering other services to whites. It was unheard of for a black man to own his own farm. Therefore, the blacks had to work for the white land owners who frequently cheated the blacks out of their rightfully earned income. This caused the blacks to be in perpetual debt to the white man. In an effort to block out interference in what he interrupted as a state matter, Governor Barnett invoked a doctrine first used before the Civil War. In a speech he gave on September 13, 1962, Governor Barnett said, “In obedience to legislative and constitutional sanction I interpose the rights of the sovereign state of Mississippi to enforce its laws and to regulate its own internal affairs without interference on the part of the federal government or its offices.” (99) Weeks later, as lawless Mississippians were mobbing the Ole Miss campus, Governor Barnett spoke to federal Marshals in a way that caused many Mississippians to interpret as a call by to defy the federal authority. He said, “You are trampling on the sovereignty of this great state and depriving it of every vestige of honor and respect as a member of the United States. You are destroying the Constitution of this great nation. May God have mercy on your souls.” (121) The issue of state’s rights versus U. S. Constitutional rights was, in the minds of Governor Barnett and many white citizens of Mississippi, always the issue. The issue in the minds of the black population of Mississippi was equal and NOT separate rights. James Meredith’s enrollment at Ole Miss wasn’t the first effort to desegregate the south. However, it was a major one. When he walked to class the first day, surrounded by U S Marshals, dozens of soldiers, followed by a convoy of military jeeps, with thousands more soldiers deployed around the campus, he had opened the door for black citizens in Mississippi to a new way of life. Eventually they would run for office and be elected. They would have the opportunity to gain professional positions and affluence. They can go anywhere, eat anywhere, and walk anywhere they want today because of the courageous acts of men and women like James Meredith. Before the civil rights movement, Mississippi was a closed society. It probably still is in some ways. However, the comparison of Mississippi before and after James Meredith’s victory is similar to comparing freedom with restriction. Work Sited Lambert, Frank. (2010). The Battle of Ole Miss. Civil Rights V. States Rights. Oxford University Press. Oxford, MS. 2010. Read More