By the time(60s)America was having an issue with seeing Blacks in the universities, India was having an issue seeing its Dravidian Blacks driving their own cars. In fact to this day in India it could be dangerous for a dark skin black Dravidian to own a car and drive it.
Today, 1962, Air Force veteran James Meredith attempted to enroll at the all white, segregated University of Mississippi, only to be personally blocked from entering by Governor Ross Barnett. Chaos soon broke out on the campus, with riots ending in two dead and many others arrested, after the Kennedy administration called out some 31,000 National Guardsmen and other federal forces to enforce order. Ultimately the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that Mr. Meredith had the right to be admitted to the state school. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld that ruling. Meredith graduated in 1963 with a degree in political science. He went on to complete his law degree at Columbia University in 1968. By 2002, African Americans comprised 13% of the enrollment (Mississippi has a 37.3% African American population). James Meredith’s son, Joseph, graduated that year as the top doctoral student at the School of Business Administration. Below, an image of the memorial to James Meredith on the U of Mississippi campus.
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