James Meredith: Civil Rights Movement

James Meredith was a big civil rights activist. He integrated an all-white college and led a march. He also participated in politics. Later on his different views made other civil rights activists upset. He will always be known as a controversial hero who stood up for the rights of African Americans.
James Meredith was born on June 25, 1933 in Kosciusko, Mississippi. He was the seventh of thirteen children. He lived on the farm with all of his siblings and his parents. The farm he lived on was isolated in the country. His father decided for them to live out in the country because he did not want them to grow up in a racist place. His first major encounter with racism was on a train heading home from Chicago when the train workers made him and his brother move to a colored car where he had to stand. After he was put on to the colored car he decided to start standing up for civil rights. Before one of Meredith’s biggest moments he went to the Air Force and attended Jackson State College, which was an all-black college. During his time at Jackson State he applied to Ole Miss which was an all-white college. He was accepted but, they denied him because of his race. He then tried many different times but because of his race he was denied every time. In 1961, he got the help of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People). He and the
He argued with the organization that helped him enroll in Ole Miss, the NAACP. He argued with them over whose idea it was for his enrollment in Ole Miss. They also disagreed about the NAACP’s policy against nonviolence. James thought that nonviolence was useless. The NAACP thought that being nonviolent was the best thing to do. He also made Harlem residents angry by challenging a popular congressman for his position. During this time he attended Columbia University where he got a law degree. In 1971, he moved back to