The South: Surrender in Mississippi

To most white Mississippians, integration has always been something to be resisted, not accepted. Rallying behind the cry of "Segregation forever," citizens of the state have resorted to violence, intimidation and a Byzantine series of legal maneuvers as they sought to avoid compliance with the U.S. Supreme Court's 1954 school desegregation decision. Now the unthinkable has become the inevitable. In October, the Supreme Court ordered an end to the delays by which 30 of the state's school districts have managed to maintain "separate but equal" education. Beginning this week, school desegregation will become a reality for 67,813 black and 55,461...