Civil Rights Diary

Dear Journal, October 1, 1962 Today I witnessed something big; an incident that will likely go down in the history books for future students to learn. The first black student attended the University of Mississippi. To whoever is reading this now, it may not seem to be a great event, because I have a feeling this day is one that will be the start of a new change. It was not nearly as easy for James Meredith to enroll in Ole Miss as it was for me and my other fellow students. The events that led to James’ attendance today were much more important, chaotic, and scarier than when I enrolled myself just a couple of years ago. Everything has always been separated between whites and blacks for as long as I have been alive. I don’t know why it has been like this, I mean, I know why I just don’t what the purpose really is. I don’t know why we must separate people. I know Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. has been the leader of all of the recent changes happening in the country. Although my parents don’t seem to agree with him, I do. I don’t believe I should have access to certain things when others don’t, simply because of the color of my skin. From what I read in articles and bits I catch on the television, I think the segregation of whites and blacks is worse down here in the south compared to other regions of the country. It’s been over eight years since Brown vs Board of Education, so I’m not sure why James Meredith had such an issue attending school along side of me. The Leadership Conference states, “On May 17, 1954, the Court unanimously ruled that "separate but equal" public schools for blacks and whites were unconstitutional” (n.d.). I’ve seen these separate schools and they are not equal as some would like to say. I’ve read up on James Meredith and National Visionary Leadership Project says, “In doing so, on January 12, 1961 he applied to the all-white University of Mississippi sparking a highly publicized battle between the federal government and Mississippi officials. The school did not accept Meredith based on his race and the young man took his battle to the courts. Although the state courts ruled against Meredith’s favor, the Supreme Court ruled that Meredith had the right to attend the school” (n.d.). It was now the law to allow black students and white students to the same school, but that didn’t stop our governor from blocking James as he attempted to enroll. Ross Barnett physically blocked that man from scheduling his classes, so he had to leave. I heard that President Kennedy had to make phone calls to the governor to try and convince him to allow James in the school, but he still refused. These past couple of weeks has been hell for James Meredith as he tried to go to school. Yesterday, a large amount of federal officials arrived at my school accompanying James