The Southern Manifesto
(1956)
Sam J. Ervin and others
Historical Context
• Sam J. Ervin
– Senator of North Carolina
– Headed two famous committees taking down
• Senator Joe McCarthy
• President Richard M. Nixon
– Condemned Brown Vs. Board of Education
• Later changed his mind but continued to oppose
forced desegregation.
Historical Context Cont.
• Southern Manifest
– Written in 1956 by legislators in the US
Congress opposed to racial integration in
public places.
– Signed by 96 politicians
– Written to counter the ruling of Brown V.
Board of Education
Intended Audience
• Their intended audience was their fellow
colleagues in Congress and the rest of
America
Main Point
• The Supreme Court’s decision in the
Brown v. Board of Education is a clear
abuse of judicial power.
– “We regard the decision of the Supreme Court
in the school cases as a clear abuse of
judicial power. It climaxes a trend in the
Federal judiciary undertaking to legislate, in
derogation of the authority of Congress, and
to encroach upon the reserved rights of the
States and the people.”
Main Point
• The 14th Amendment can not be used
as an argument for segregation in
education.
– “The original Constitution does not mention
education. Neither does the 14th amendment
nor any other amendment. The debates
preceding the submission of the 14th
amendment clearly show that there was no
intent that it should affect the systems of
education maintained by the States.”
Main Point
• The concept of “separate but equal”
actually started in the North, not the
South.
– “Brown v. Board of Education…originated in
Roberts v. City of Boston (1849) in
Massachusetts.
– “Not only there but also in, Connecticut, New
York, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota,
New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and other
northern States.”
Main Point
• Time after time, the Supreme Court
ruled it was legal to have institutions
and facilities “separate but equal.”
– Plessy v. Ferguson
– Lum v. Rice
Main Point
• This decision actually hurt relations
between the races.
– “It is destroying the amicable relations
between the white and Negro races that have
been created through 90 years of patient
effort by the good people of both races. It has
planted hatred and suspicion where there has
been heretofore friendship and
understanding.”
Main Point
• Outside agitators threaten the public
school system.
– “Without regard to the consent of the
governed, outside agitators are threatening
immediate and revolutionary changes in our
public-school systems. If done, this is certain
to destroy the system of public education in
some of the States.”
Background
• Southern whites were outraged, and they dubbed May 17 as "Black
Monday." Ninety Southern Congressmen issued the "Southern
Manifesto" condemning the Court decision as a usurpation of state
powers. They said that the Court, instead of interpreting the law, was
trying to legislate. Southern states resurrected the old doctrine of
interposition which they had used against the Federal Government
preceding the Civil War. Several state legislatures passed
resolutions stating that the Federal Government did not have the
power to prohibit segregation. Other Southerners resorted to a
whole battery of tactics. The Ku Klux Klan was revived along with a
host of new groups such as the National Association for the
Advancement of White People. The White Citizens' councils
spearheaded the resistance movement. Various forms of violence
and intimidation became common. Bombings, beatings, and
murders increased sharply all across the South. Outspoken
proponents of desegregation were harassed in other ways as well.
They lost their jobs, their banks called in their mortgages, and
creditors of all kinds came to collect their debts.
Source: The Black Experience in America Ch.11
Question
• If the Supreme Court did not force
integration, would the States have done it
on their on and if so when?