Civil rights movement

=== Integration of Mississippi universities, 1956–1965 ===
{{Further|Ole Miss riot of 1962}}
Beginning in 1956, [[Clyde Kennard]], a black [[Korean War]]-veteran, wanted to enroll at Mississippi Southern College (now the [[University of Southern Mississippi]]) at [[Hattiesburg]] under the [[G.I. Bill]]. [[William David McCain]], the college president, used the [[Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission]], in order to prevent his enrollment by appealing to local black leaders and the segregationist state political establishment.<ref>{{cite web |last1=handeyside |first1=Hugh |title=What Have We Learned from the Spies of Mississippi? |url=https://www.aclu.org/blog/speakeasy/what-have-we-learned-spies-mississippi |website=American Civil Liberty Union |date=February 13, 2014 |publisher=ACLU National Security Project |access-date=May 6, 2015}}</ref>

The state-funded organization tried to counter the civil rights movement by positively portraying segregationist policies. More significantly, it collected data on activists, harassed them legally, and used economic boycotts against them by threatening their jobs (or causing them to lose their jobs) to try to suppress their work.

Kennard was twice arrested on trumped-up charges, and eventually convicted and sentenced to seven years in the state prison.<ref name="Kennard" /> After three years at [[hard labor]], Kennard was paroled by [[Governor of Mississippi|Mississippi Governor]] [[Ross Barnett]]. Journalists had investigated his case and publicized the state's mistreatment of his [[colon cancer]].<ref name="Kennard" />

McCain's role in Kennard's arrests and convictions is unknown.<ref name="Funding">William H. Tucker, ''The Funding of Scientific Racism: Wickliffe Draper and the Pioneer Fund'', University of Illinois Press (May 30, 2007), pp 165–66.</ref><ref name="Confederacy">''Neo-Confederacy: A Critical Introduction'', Edited by Euan Hague, Heidi Beirich, Edward H. Sebesta, University of Texas Press (2008) pp. 284–285 {{ISBN?}}</ref><ref name="report">{{cite web |url=http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=135 |title=A House Divided |publisher=Southern Poverty Law Center |access-date=October 30, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100202111430/http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=135 |archive-date=February 2, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Evers">Jennie Brown, ''Medgar Evers'', Holloway House Publishing, 1994, pp. 128–132</ref> While trying to prevent Kennard's enrollment, McCain made a speech in Chicago, with his travel sponsored by the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission. He described the blacks' seeking to desegregate Southern schools as "imports" from the North. (Kennard was a native and resident of Hattiesburg.) McCain said:
<blockquote>We insist that educationally and socially, we maintain a [[Racial segregation in the United States|segregated]] society...In all fairness, I admit that we are not encouraging Negro voting...The Negroes prefer that control of the government remain in the white man's hands.<ref name="Funding" /><ref name="report" /><ref name="Evers" /></blockquote>

Note: Mississippi had passed a new constitution in 1890 that effectively [[Disfranchisement after Reconstruction era|disfranchised]] most blacks by changing electoral and voter registration requirements; although it deprived them of constitutional rights authorized under post-Civil War amendments, it survived [[U.S. Supreme Court]] challenges at the time. It was not until after the passage of the 1965 [[Voting Rights Act]] that most blacks in Mississippi and other southern states gained federal protection to enforce the constitutional right of citizens to vote.

[[File:James Meredith OleMiss.jpg|thumb|[[James Meredith]] walking to class accompanied by a U.S. Marshal and a Justice Department official.]]

In September 1962, [[James Meredith]] won a lawsuit to secure admission to the previously segregated [[University of Mississippi]]. He attempted to enter campus on September 20, on September 25, and again on September 26. He was blocked by Governor Ross Barnett, who said, "[N]o school will be integrated in Mississippi while I am your Governor." The [[Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals]] held Barnett and Lieutenant Governor [[Paul B. Johnson Jr.]] in [[Contempt of court|contempt]], ordering them arrested and fined more than $10,000 for each day they refused to allow Meredith to enroll.

[[File:US Marshals at Ole Miss October 1962 cph.3c35522.jpg|thumb|[[United States Army|U.S. Army]] trucks loaded with Federal law enforcement personnel on the University of Mississippi campus, 1962.]]

Attorney General [[Robert F. Kennedy]] sent in a force of [[United States Marshals Service|U.S. Marshals]] and deputized [[United States Border Patrol|U.S. Border Patrol]] agents and [[Federal Bureau of Prisons]] officers. On September 30, 1962, Meredith entered the campus under their escort. Students and other whites began rioting that evening, throwing rocks and firing on the federal agents guarding Meredith at Lyceum Hall. Rioters ended up killing two civilians, including a French journalist; 28 federal agents suffered gunshot wounds, and 160 others were injured. President [[John F. Kennedy]] sent [[United States Army|U.S. Army]] and federalized [[Mississippi National Guard]] forces to the campus to quell the riot. Meredith began classes the day after the troops arrived.<ref>[http://www.crmvet.org/tim/timhis62.htm#1962olmiss "James Meredith Integrates Ole Miss"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061004011259/http://www.crmvet.org/tim/timhis62.htm#1962olmiss |date=October 4, 2006 }}, Civil Rights Movement Archive</ref>

Kennard and other activists continued to work on public university desegregation. In 1965 [[Raylawni Branch]] and [[Gwendolyn Elaine Armstrong]] became the first African-American students to attend the [[University of Southern Mississippi]]. By that time, McCain helped ensure they had a peaceful entry.<ref name="sketch">[http://www.lib.usm.edu/~archives/m393.htm?m393text.htm~mainFrameBiographical/Historical], University of Southern Mississippi Library {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090917124123/http://www.lib.usm.edu/~archives/m393.htm?m393text.htm~mainFrameBiographical%2FHistorical|date=September 17, 2009}}</ref> In 2006, Judge Robert Helfrich ruled that Kennard was factually innocent of all charges for which he had been convicted in the 1950s.<ref name="Kennard">[http://www6.district125.k12.il.us/~bbradfor/kennardmission.html "Carrying the burden: the story of Clyde Kennard"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071009153750/http://www6.district125.k12.il.us/~bbradfor/kennardmission.html |date=October 9, 2007 }}, District 125, Mississippi. Retrieved November 5, 2007</ref>