"NEGROES & WHITES WORK SIDE BY SIDE IN HARMONY"

ACCORDING TO ROSS BARNETT, MISSISSIPPI IS "A HAPPY LAND"

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) "The first big gun from Dixie to testify on the civil rights bill," Governor Ross Barnett* of Mississippi, described a Mississippi "that James Meredith** and other members of his race might not recognize."

Mary McGrory writes that the Governor pictured his state to the Senate Commerce Committee as "a happy land where Negroes and whites work side by side in peace and harmony."*

The Governor's explanation of the civil unrest that has spread across the country concerning equal rights is that it is "largely Communist-inspired."

JFK+50 NOTE

As governor, Ross Barnett arranged for the Freedom Riders to be arrested & imprisoned in 1961.  He was a staunch segregationist who never apologized for it.

*Ross Robert Barnett (1898-1987) was born in Standing Pine, Mississippi.  His father was a veteran of the Confederate army & RRB served in the US Army in WWI.  RRB was educated at the University of Mississippi & served as governor of the state 1960-1964.  

**James Howard Meredith (b. 1933) Kosciusko, MS was the 1st African-American to attend the University of Mississippi & earned his law degree at Columbia University Law School. 

SOURCE

"Barnett's Is a Happy State," by Mary McGrory, The Evening Star, Washington, D.C., July 13, 1963, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/

 

 

Ross Barnett

Mississippi Dept of Archives & History

www.flickr.com/

"YOU ARE DESTROYING THE CONSTITUTION"

JFK SENDS TROOPS TO MISSISSIPPI TO RESTORE ORDER

Oxford, Mississippi (JFK+50) On October 1, 1962, 23,000 United States Army troops arrived on the campus of the University of Mississippi here in Oxford to restore order following rioting that resulted in the deaths of two persons.

President John F. Kennedy gave the order for deployment after rioting began on September 30.  The riots were sparked by the attempt of African-American James Meredith to enroll in the all-white state university.

On September 13, 1962, a federal court had ruled that James Meredith must be admitted by the university, but Mississippi Governor Ross Barnett* ordered state police to stand down.

The Governor was declared in contempt of court and Meredith was admitted to "Ole Miss" with the assistance of Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy who dispatched 127 U.S. marshals, 316 border patrol agents and 97 Federal Bureau of Prisons officers.

Governor Barnett was forced to give in, but not without a parting shot in a radio address in which he said...

"Gentlemen, you are trampling on the sovereignty of this great state.  You are destroying the Constitution...May God have mercy on your souls." 

*Ross Robert Barnett (1898-1897) was born in Standing Pine, MS. & educated at Mississippi College & the University of Mississippi.  RRB served in WWI & became a member of the Dixiecrats, Southern Democrats supporting racial segregation.  He was Governor of Mississippi 1960-1964.

 

U.S. Army Trucks with U.S. Marshals

Oxford, Mississippi 

October 3, 1962

Photo by Jerry Huff, UPI

Library of Congress Image 

"BOBBY KENNEDY IS A HYPOCRITICAL LEFT WING BEATNIK"

FEDERAL TROOPS RESTORE ORDER IN MISSISSIPPI

Oxford, Mississippi (JFK+50) On October 1, 1962, 23,000 US troops sent to the campus of the University of Mississippi by President John F. Kennedy restored order after riots had broken out the previous day resulting in two deaths.

The riots came in response to the attempted enrollment at the all white university by African American, James Meredith*.  On September 13, a federal district court ruled that "Ole Miss" was required to admit Meredith, but Governor Ross Barnett** ordered state police to ignore the order.

After the governor was declared in contempt of court, Meredith was successfully admitted to the university with the assistance of US marshals.

Reacting to events which led to disagreements with the Kennedy administration, Governor Barnett said this about the Attorney General...

"Bobby Kennedy is a hypocritical left wing beatnik without a beard who...recklessly distorts the facts."

*James Howard Meredith was born in Mississippi & attended the University of Mississippi, Jackson State University & Columbia Law School.  JHM served in the USAF & became a writer & political adviser.

**Ross Robert Barnett (1898-1987) was born in Mississippi & served in the US Army during WWI.  RRB earned his law degree at the University of Mississippi & served as governor of Mississippi 1960-1964.

James Meredith

photo by Darrell Blakely (2007)

MEREDITH ARRIVES AT UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI

JFK+50:  Volume 5, No. 2084

JAMES MEREDITH ESCORTED BY FEDERAL MARSHALS TO OLE MISS

Oxford, Mississippi (JFK+50) Fifty-four years ago today, September 30, 1962, James Meredith*, who was to become the first African-American to attend the University of Mississippi, was escorted by federal marshals to the campus here in Oxford.

Mr. Meredith was enrolled for classes on October 1, 1962, but his presence at the previously all-white university sparked rioting that resulted in two deaths.

James Meredith's primary goal in enrolling at the all-white institution of higher learning was to get the federal authorities to enforce his rights as an American citizen.  He saw his successful enrollment at Ole Miss as an attack on white supremacy.

*James Howard Meredith was born in Kosciusko, Mississippi in 1933.  He served in the USAF from 1951-1960.  JHM graduated from the University of Mississippi with a degree in Political Science in 1963.  JHM earned his law degree from Columbia University in 1968.

Sculpture of James Meredith

University of Mississippi

Photo by Allspamme (2011)

VALENTINE'S DAY AND JFK

JFK SHOWS NO LOVE FOR STROM

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On Valentine's Day fifty-three years ago, February 14, 1962, President John F. Kennedy was asked the following question by a White House reporter...

"Mr. President, this being Valentine's Day, sir, do you think it might be a good idea if you would call Senator Strom Thurmond* of South Carolina down to the White House for a heart-to-heart talk about the whole disagreement over the censorship of the military speeches and what he calls your defeatist foreign policy?"

President Kennedy's response was received with laughter by the press corps...

"Well, I think that that meeting should be probably prepared at a lower level..."

The lack of love between JFK and the racist, anti-communist South Carolina senator is all too clear despite the President's humorous response.

In September of that same year, Strom sent the following telegram to JFK...

"Both you and the Attorney General have indicated that troops would not be used against a sovereign state...(but) new reports (are saying) that you are preparing to use force to enroll James Meredith at the University of Mississippi against the right of the state....to control its own educational system.  (This) is most shocking and disturbing..."

The Senator counseled the President to "not be stampeded into this unwise action."

After JFK's death, Senator Thurmond expressed the view that President Kennedy had been the victim of a communist plot.  He said publicly..."I hope the whole story can come out?"

In a review of a biography of the senator by Joseph Crespino, Michael O'Donnell describes Strom Thurmond as "a malevolent Forrest Gump."

He points out that, according to Crespino, in 1962...

"the Kennedy administration incensed (Thurmond) by 'muzzling' military leaders who had forced their troops to read material from the John Birch Society..."

One of those military leaders was General Edwin Walker of Dallas, Texas who was allegedly shot at by Lee Harvey Oswald.

SOURCES

"A Malevolent Forrest Gump," by Michael O'Donnell, Washington Monthly, September/October 2012

"Integrating Ole Miss, a Civil Rights Milestone," www.microsites.jfklibrary.org/

"Thurmond on the Kennedy assassination," December 1963, www.mirc.sc./

Senator Strom Thurmond

August 8, 1961

*Strom Thurmond (1902-2003) was born in Edgefield, South Carolina.  He graduated from Clemson University in 1923 and was admitted to the bar in 1930.  ST served in the army during WWII and served as SC governor from 1947-1951.  

In 1948, he was the presidential nominee of the States Rights or Dixiecrat party. ST completed his political career in the US Senate from 1956-2003.

ROSS BARNETT OF MISSISSIPPI

COURT ORDERS JUSTICE DEPT TO CHARGE MISSISSIPPI OFFICIALS IN MEREDITH CASE

New Orleans (JFK+50) 52 years ago today, November 16, 1962, a federal district court here in New Orleans, Louisiana ordered the Justice Department to charge Mississippi Governor Ross Barnett* and Lt. Governor Paul Johnson for impeding the admission of James Meredith, an African-American, to the University of Mississippi at Oxford.

The Justice Department was headed by JFK's brother, Attorney-General Robert F. Kennedy.

Ross Barnett, who served as governor from 1960 to 1964, was a states' rights Democrat.  He received an LL.B from the University of Mississippi in 1929.

The Governor was fined $10,000 and sentenced to jail for contempt, but he never paid the fine nor served the sentence because the ruling was overturned in an Appeals Court.

Ross Barnett 

January 1964

Mississippi Department of Archives and History

*Ross Barnett (1898-1987) was born in Standing Pine, Mississippi.  He was the son of a Confederate veteran and served in WWII.  RB graduated from Mississippi College in 1922 and after law school became one of the most successful trial attorneys in the state specializing in damage suits.

RB was governor of Mississippi from 1960 to 1964.  He returned to his law practice afterward and never regretted his stand against integration.

JFK ORDERS INCREASE IN AID TO SAIGON

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) 53 years ago today, November 16, 1961, President John F. Kennedy gave the order to increase American military aid to South Vietnam.

Although the President had been concerned about advances made in Southeast Asia by the communist Viet Cong, he remained reluctant to commit US combat forces.

The President was hopeful that the increased military aid would help strengthen the South Vietnamese government and military.

FORMER NAZI SCIENTISTS TO WORK IN US ROCKET PROGRAM

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) Sixty-nine years ago today, November 16, 1945, the government of the United States welcomed eighty-eight German scientists who were to take part in the American rocket program.

The scientists had previously served Adolf Hitler's Third Reich, but the United States took advantage of  their services and wanted to keep them from being utilized by the Soviets Union.

Upon their arrival, newsmen and photographers were not permitted to ask questions or take photographs.