"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 

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)