Having been born in Louisiana in 1961 I was too young to now clearly remember the desegregation battle that was fought in the South during the middle 20th century. Naturally I was taught about this in school, but there is a difference between learning some historical facts and actually being witness to such happenings.
I am watching a program on the local PBS channel that I haven't seen before. I think that it is titled "Eye On The Prize". It's a very detailed account of the various battles regarding this issue and includes film footage as well as interviews with many people who were directly involved at the time. It really is one of the most complete and detailed documentaries that I have seen on this period of American history.
Sitting here in the early 21st century and listening to the rhetoric of the segregationists it really is hard to fathom how these people could have honestly believed themselves to be on the right side of the issue. These aren't uneducated hicks. They're well educated lawyers, professors, state Governors, and other professional people. Segregation was a highly emotional topic during this period in American history and resulted in an amazing and disgusting amount of violence.
National Guard troops were used in Little Rock to prevent 9 black children from attending school, effectively using state troops to defy the Supreme Court. Federal troops were used to enforce the Supreme Court's ruling there. Federal troops had to be sent in to Mississippi to bring order after riots ensued over a black man being admitted to Ole Miss.
Looking back from our 21st century perspective, it is a confused and hateful period in our history and it is difficult to understand the position of those who sought to maintain such an unconstitutional and outright oppressive system in order to dehumanize a large segment of the population.
I for one am certainly glad that segregation was finally defeated and dismantled as such oppression has no place in a supposedly free society.