What did James Meredith do after the civil rights movement?

Mid-twentieth century was a time of great significance in the United States of America. It was during this time that the Civil Rights Movement started and created an impact on society that can still be seen to this day. Starting with the Supreme Court case, Brown v. Board of Education (1954), in which segregation in public schools was banned, the movement continued to grow and gave men like James Meredith opportunities that had never-before been available. Eight years into the Civil Rights Movement, Meredith left his own mark on history when he became the first black man to enroll and graduate from the University of Mississippi, thus integrating a school symbolized with white prestige. Although Meredith faced heavy resistance from state officials…show more content…
When he set his mind to something, he made it happen, regardless of the struggles he encountered because of his race. He pushed through the oppression and showed great leadership along the way. However, the actions of James Meredith are in no way surprising after learning about his upbringing and how he got to Ole Miss. According to the journal article “James Meredith and the Integration of Ole Miss”, by Nadine Cohadas (1997), Meredith was raised with great pride stemming from his family’s long history in the state of Mississippi. His grandmother had been a slave, but his father had become the first member of his family to own land. In Cohadas’ words, James referred to his home as a “sovereign state”, ruled by his father who had his own standards for handling the white supremacists of Mississippi. It was because of these standards that James became well aware of the racial oppression he was living in by the time he was a teenager and wanted to make a change. His change started with joining the Air Force when he turned 18, proving to be an essential part of life. Cohadas (1997) explains further stating, “He was trained to be a soldier and to fight, and he knew that when he returned home to honor the promise he had made to himself as a teenager, he would be ‘at war.’”…show more content…
The first step in his plan of action was to enroll in Jackson State College. It was here that Meredith studied liberal arts to broaden his range of ideas, making him a stronger candidate when applying to Ole Miss. This was only one part of a plan that was composed of several difference pieces. Perhaps the most significant of these pieces was the Kennedy administration. In another article, under same name as Cohadas’, Kelly Anne Donovan (2002) gives the background and the importance of Kennedy in her article, “James Meredith and the Integration of Ole Miss”. President Kennedy won the 1960 election and took office in January of 1961 after a tight race. The votes that pushed him over the edge though, were those of black voters. During his campaign, Kennedy had openly supported civil rights which in turn gave him the support of minority voters. With the election of the first president supportive of the Civil Right movement, Meredith saw this as the perfect opportunity to submit his application to the University of Mississippi, and he did so just one day after Kennedy’s inauguration on January 21,

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By Elizabeth Brevard, Intern, Catalog of American Portraits, National Portrait Gallery

By the fall of 1962, racial tension had exploded in the American South. Groups such as the Little Rock Nine and the Freedom Riders had exposed the violence spurred by the deep-seeded stigmas of many Americans and the need for change. James Howard Meredith had intently followed the escalated resistance and believed that it was the right time to move aggressively in what he considered a war against white supremacy.

Meredith was born in Kosciusko, Mississippi, on June 25, 1933. Unlike many African Americans in Mississippi at the time, his father, Moses, was an independent farmer and a registered voter. Moses, who was the son of a slave, fenced off their property and minimized the family’s interaction with outsiders. Meredith first experienced the humiliation of racial discrimination at age fifteen, on a return train to Mississippi after visiting family in the North. He remembered in 1962, “The train wasn’t segregated when we left Detroit, but when we got to Memphis the conductor told my brother and me we had to go to another car. I cried all the way home from Memphis, and in a way I have cried ever since” (Doyle 19).

Meredith enlisted in the armed forces after high school, joining the air force. As the most recently formed branch of military service, the air force lacked a tradition of racism. Over five years, he became known for his meticulous attention to detail and frugality with his work, and in 1956, he received a post in Japan, bringing his new bride, Mary June Wiggins. The racial tolerance that he witnessed in Japan profoundly affected his understanding of self and society.

In 1960, after an honorable discharge, he returned to Mississippi, where he registered for the fall semester at the all-black Jackson State College. He helped create a small campus secret society called the Mississippi Improvement Association of Students, or MIAS. They made leaflets of anti-white supremacy literature and wrote “MIAS vs. BIAS: who are you for?” on blackboards before classes.

The day after John F. Kennedy took office, Meredith began the struggle to attend the all-white University of Mississippi with his mailed request for a brochure and application. The ensuing events instigated a political battle that would lead to the direct involvement of Mississippi Governor Ross Barnett, Attorney General Robert Kennedy, and the president of the United States.

The university rejected his application twice, and it would take a year and a half and the force of the United States Supreme Court for Meredith to be admitted. Still, both times Meredith attempted to register, aided by a squad of U.S. marshals, Governor Barnett presented official proclamations denying his entry to the university.

Hundreds of civilians, many of them armed, began to take action themselves by entering Oxford and the university’s campus in protest. The growing mass of impassioned citizens and unyielding politics compelled President Kennedy to order the preparation of U.S. military force.

On September 30, 1962, a group of marshals, including the deputy attorney general, escorted Meredith to his dormitory. Marshals also stationed themselves at the university’s Lyceum building, which would become the epicenter of their clash with the violent mob armed with guns, Molotov cocktails, and whatever else they could find.

From September 30 to October 2, marshals and the later-arriving Mississippi National Guardsmen and U.S. army soldiers fought against the swarms of citizens. One hundred and sixty-six marshals and forty-eight American soldiers were injured, while two civilians were killed in the melee. About three hundred citizens were taken prisoner by marshals and federal troops. After the riot was crushed, the military continued to occupy Oxford for almost ten months.

James Meredith officially became the first African American student at the University of Mississippi on October 2, 1962. He was guarded twenty-four hours a day by reserve U.S. deputy marshals and army troops, and he endured constant verbal harassment from a minority of students. On August 18, 1963, Meredith fulfilled his childhood dream to graduate from the University of Mississippi with a degree in political science.

Meredith continued his studies, receiving a law degree from Columbia University. In 1966, he started a 213-mile “March Against Fear” from Memphis to Jackson by himself to advocate voting rights. On the second day of the march, Meredith absorbed nearly one hundred pellet wounds when a sniper opened fire. Leaders of major civil rights organizations, including Martin Luther King Jr., invited Americans to join them on the resumed “Meredith March.” Meredith recovered in time to rejoin the march on its entrance into Jackson.

Author William Doyle notes, “The prospect of living out his life in the Dark Age of a segregated Mississippi was simply unacceptable to [Meredith]. . . . As he later explained, ‘I asked myself the question, “Why should it be someone else?” If people keep placing the responsibility with someone else, nothing will ever be accomplished’” (Doyle 32). Meredith remains a crucial figure in the civil rights movement for his commitment and bravery fifty years ago.

Cited:
William Doyle, An American Insurrection: The Battle of Oxford, Mississippi, 1962 (New York: Doubleday, 2001).

He returned to his home state determined to become the first African-American to attend the University of Mississippi. He attended Jackson State College from 1960 to 1961, and applied for admission to the University of Mississippi in January 1961.

The state took several measures to prevent his admission. In February, the university sent Meredith a telegram denying his admission. When Meredith’s responses to this telegram went unanswered, he filed suit with the assistance of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Legal Defense Fund. After a protracted court battle, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Sept. 10, 1962, that Meredith was to be admitted to the university. Mississippi Gov. Ross Barnett tried to prevent Meredith’s enrollment by assuming the position of registrar and blocking his admission.

On Sept. 30, 1962, when a deal was reached between Barnett and U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy to allow Meredith to enroll, a riot broke out on campus. A mob of angry whites confronted U.S. marshals stationed on campus to protect Meredith. The crowd assaulted the marshals with bricks and bullets outside the Lyceum, the university’s administration building, until the arrival of federal troops quelled the violence in the early morning hours. Two bystanders died in the confrontation, 206 marshals and soldiers were wounded, and 200 individuals were arrested. Meredith was finally allowed to register for courses on Oct. 1, 1962.

Messages of support for Meredith arrived from all over the world, including from Rosa Parks, Josephine Baker and Langston Hughes. However, Meredith was ostracized by most of his fellow students at the university and needed 24-hour protection from marshals. As a result, he described himself as “the most segregated Negro in America.” The broadside “Rebel Resistance” was created by students, in collaboration with the Citizens’ Council, to urge students to avoid any association with Meredith. Federal troops remained on campus for more than a year to ensure his safety. In spite of these challenges, Meredith graduated with a bachelor’s degree in August 1963. He went on to earn his LL.B. in 1968 from Columbia Law School.

A civil rights activist, businessman, politician and author, Meredith has dedicated his life to supporting individual rights. Aside from being the first African-American to attend the University of Mississippi, Meredith is noted for leading the 1966 “March Against Fear” from Memphis to Jackson in protest of the physical violence that African-Americans faced while exercising their right to vote. When Meredith was shot on the second day of the march, civil rights leaders, including Martin Luther King Jr., stepped in to complete the march.

Meredith campaigned on behalf of a number of black politicians in several states, and in 1972 ran unsuccessfully for a congressional seat. In 1989, he joined the staff of North Carolina’s arch-conservative Sen. Jesse Helms. In 1996, he led the “Black Man’s March to the Library.” He is the author of numerous publications, including Three Years in Mississippi, which describes his experience integrating the University of Mississippi, and A Mission from God: A Memoir and Challenge for America.