The Supreme Court of the United States made an important ruling in 1954.It was that public schools needed to be integrated.Children of all races were to be enrolled in the same schools.There would be no more black schools or white schools.That was the intent of the law.(1) ______________________________.The University of Mississippi was one of those schools. There were no black students.They were supported by the state government and the governor’s office.James Meredith had joined the Air Force after high school.After leaving the military,he realized that the only way he would be able to fulfill his desire for a good education was to go to college.(2) ____________________________.He decided that the only place he could receive the education he wanted was to enroll in the University of Mississippi.Meredith sent several applications to the university.Each time he applied, he was denied.There was a reason given for each denial,but James Meredith did not believe any of the excuses.He wrote to the president of the university that he was ready to pursue his dream and would not back off.(3) ____________________________________.In fact, he went so far as to state that no Mississippi school would be integrated as long as he was the governor.It was 1962. There was a new kind of president, sitting in Washington,D.C. His name was John F. Kennedy.He had promised to support civil rights in his campaign for president.Because of his stand for civil rights,he had received many black votes in the election.
some schools chose to close their eyes and ignored the law.
he also realized that the same qualified education offered to western students was not available to him
however, the governor of Mississippi still believed that the races should not be mixed.