Mississippi’s legislature acted to guarantee churches could stay segregated after Brown

Evidence

The stances of white churches on the issue of integration were seen by civil rights activists and segregationists alike as the keystone holding the entire Jim Crow ediface together. In the wake of the 1954 Brown decision, with many national Protestant denominational offices approving the ruling, the Mississippi State Legislature moved quickly to protect the ability of local white churches to oppose their national offices and remain segregated, while still retaining their property. One of the authors of what became known as “the church property bill” argued explicitly that such a step was crucial because, he asserted, if integration came to Mississippi, “it will enter through the front door of churches.” — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long, 127

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Racial habits operate even against a Brown student in a park doing homework — Eddie S. Glaude Jr., Democracy in Black: How Race Still…, 223; School segregation persists essentially unchanged six decades after Brown. — Nikole Hannah-Jones et al., The 1619 Project: A New American Origin…, 1363; Antibusing forces framed their cause as upholding Brown’s color-blind principle rather than as resistance. — Matthew D. Lassiter, The Suburban Origins of “Color-Blind”…, 99 (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• School segregation persists essentially unchanged six decades after Brown. #corroborates (0.90) — Nikole Hannah-Jones et al., The 1619 Project, 1363
• Racial habits operate even against a Brown student in a park doing homework #exemplifies (0.80) — Eddie S. Glaude Jr., Democracy in Black, 223