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Abuse against blacks, who were blamed for these changes, was
brutal and often illegal, but it was difficult to stop. Young
James Meredith was nevertheless determined to be the first black man
to be enrolled at the University of Mississippi at Oxford. The
state was trying to thwart him, led by Governor Ross Barnett and
Lieutenant Governor Paul Johnson. On September 26, 1962,
Johnson actually went to the school as the Marshals escorted
Meredith up the steps, using a barricade of state troopers to block
them. Marshal James McShane was on one side of Meredith
and the government's civil rights attorney, John Doar, was on the
other. Johnson refused them entry on the grounds of
"breach of peace."
McShane tried to shoulder him out of the way, but the patrol
officers held firm. McShane then tried several times to get
past them but was unsuccessful.
Johnson told him he was being senseless. McShane responded
that he was doing his duty.
That afternoon, McShane and his deputies, along with Meredith,
had to turn back and drive away.
However, they weren't giving up. They were representatives
of the federal government under President Kennedy, and even the
highest state official had no authority over them, despite how it
might have looked that day. The courts had ordered the school
to admit Meredith, and President Kennedy and all his staff had a
stake in seeing this through. To let the "southern way of
life" dehumanize people was contrary to the views of the new
administration.
Within days, says Calhoun, "southern anger coalesced into a
bubbling, violent riot against federal interference." The
Marshals took the brunt of it.
On September 30, more deputies were sent into Oxford.
Kennedy wanted them to seize the Lyceum, a building that housed the
university's administrative offices, including the registrar where
Meredith had to go. They equipped themselves with helmets,
teargas and gas masks—which turned out to be a wise move—and
went to the campus. They also had riot batons (most homemade)
and service revolvers, just in case. Prison guards and
patrolmen were sworn as deputies until their force numbered over
500.
James Meredith watched the news on television and awaited their
success.
The impressive ring of deputies that formed outside the Lyceum
quickly attracted a crowd. Jeers became taunts, and students
began to throw things. Then the news spread and the crowd grew
larger and uglier. People who had broken into the chemistry
building began to throw vials of acid. Bigoted outsiders mixed
with the students, hurling rocks and bricks. State troopers
stood by and watched until the governor ordered them to leave.
Now the deputies were alone with a violent mob.
Kennedy went on television to urge the people to end this
peacefully, but McShane found that he had to use teargas to protect
his men. However, the smoke guns kept the gas down low and the
wind blew it right back at the deputies. While they were busy
with this, Meredith took up residence in the room assigned to him in
the dorm, protected by other Marshals.
The rioters began shooting at the deputies, and one of them was
badly hit. Word spread that he was dead, alerting everyone
there to the fact that there was no medical assistance available.
Although the deputies never used their guns, two rioters were
killed—most likely by stray bullets or careless shooting.
Many people were arrested and put into the basement of the Lyceum,
which was soon full. The rioters numbered around 3,000 and
there was no way to contain them all.
By 10 p.m., things seemed desperate. Teargas supplies were
running low and the people were attacking in unrelenting waves.
In came the National Guard, who had to endure the crowd's attack,
and many were injured by projectiles.
Back at the dorm, the Marshals hid Meredith in the closet and
guarded the room with weapons drawn. No one knew how far the
mob would go.
Then around 2:00 a.m., the Army arrived at the Lyceum and cleared
the place. The mob dispersed, their fury spent. But the
Marshals had control of the building in which the registrar was
housed. They remained there the rest of the night.
Early the next morning, James Meredith was escorted in to
register. By 8:30 a.m., he was officially a student at the
University of Mississippi. As he attended classes, the
deputies protected him, and they continued to do so throughout the
entire school year.
To gain this victory, 160 Marshals were injured, some quite
seriously, and 200 rioters were placed under arrest. The
Marshal rumored to have died was, in fact, alive and at the hospital
in critical condition, but he would recover.
Students did heckle and attack Meredith throughout the year,
spewing their hatred at him and bombarding his dorm, but the
Marshals stayed with him until the campus grew more tolerant, and
then a contingent of Marshals showed up when he graduated with a
degree in political science. Meredith’s courage and that of
the Marshals made a difference. They had risked their lives to
perform their duty and had helped to change the course of America's
history.
Yet other minorities, too, wanted a voice, and a decade later,
the Marshals were once again engaged in violence—this time deadly.
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