“I’ve always been at war with a system, not people”. On October 1, 1962, James Meredith became the first African-American student admitted to the University of Mississippi. Meredith’s enrollment sparked protests and riots at the University’s campus, causing President Kennedy to call in troops from the U.S. Marshals, U.S. Army and Mississippi Army National Guard to get things under control. Reflecting on his admission, Meredith states: “My job was finished once I put the President of the United States in the position where he had to use the military might of the United States of America to protect my rights as a citizen. Everything else was somebody else’s job”.
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