James Meredith was a veteran and wanted to enroll at the University of Mississippi. He was denied entrance. Meredith found this outrageous and knew it was a matter of race. He had a very impressive resume. On May 31, 1961, Meredith, with backing of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund filed suit in the U.S. District Court, alleging that the university had rejected Meredith only because of the color of his skin. The case went through many hearings and finally to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that Meredith had the right to be admitted to the state school.

Meredith was harassed frequently at Ole Miss by many students. Other students accepted him and respected him for standing for his beliefs.
Meredith's enrollment lead to violent mobs at the university. These lead to campus vandilization, injuries, and in some cases, death.

James Meredith

James Meredith

A riot breaks out at Ole Miss because of the enrollment of James Meredith