John Kyle Day, Professor of History at University of Arkansas at Monticello, discusses his book, The Southern Manifesto: Massive Resistance and the Fight to Preserve Segregation. Professor Day looks at the congressional statement drafted and signed by 99 congressmen aimed against Brown V. Board of Education’s decision to desegregate public schools. The statement, nicknamed the Southern Manifesto, accomplished both the white supremacist’s goal of blocking Civil Rights while providing tempered enough language to appease the Democratic moderate’s political fears. This often forgotten document is restored to his proper historical significance.
