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Civil Rights and the Private School Movement in Mississippi, 1964–1971

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 February 2017

Michael W. Fuquay*
Affiliation:
Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy at Columbia University

Extract

The signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was heralded as a tremendous victory for the civil rights movement, the fulfillment of a decade-long struggle to enforce the Brown v. Board of Education decision. Along with measures against job and housing discrimination, the Civil Rights Act included provisions specifically designed to overcome the white South's massive resistance campaign and enforce school desegregation. Despite the continued intransigence of segregationists, these measures proved successful and white public schools across the South opened their doors to black children. With segregationists in retreat and the Voting Rights Act on the horizon, this was a time of celebration for civil rights activists. But this was not the end of the story.

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Articles
Copyright
Copyright © 2002 by the History of Education Society 

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References

1 There were two important enforcement provisions with regard to schools. The first allowed the Department of Justice to file suit directly against local school districts. The second required that non-compliant schools lose federal education funding.Google Scholar

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