Two hundred and fifty Black students attempted to integrate Grenada, Mississippi schools on September 12, 1966. This decision came 12 years after the Supreme Court landmark Brown v. Board of Education ruling held racially-segregated public schooling unconstitutional, but the city of Grenada, Mississippi, hadn’t stopped operating a segregated school system.

In August 1966, a federal judge ordered Grenada school officials to enroll Black American students in the white-only schools, and approx. 450 students enrolled at the start of the 1966 school year.

On September 2, the school district decided to postponed the start of school for ten days. During this time, white people in the town attempted to coerce Black parents into withdrawing their kids from the schools by threatening them with firing from their or eviction for their home. This caused 200 students to withdrew from the schools.

Then when the remaining 250 Black students came for classes on September 12, a large white mob surrounded the school and forced them to leave. While the students left, members of the mob followed them through the streets, beating them with chains, pipes, and clubs. During lunchtime, the mob came back to the school to attack the few Black students who had made it inside that morning. As the students left for lunch, members of the mob attacked them, leaving some hospitalized with broken bones. There were also news reporters covering the story were beaten during the attack as well.

The mob violence continued for several days with no help from law enforcement. On September 16, a federal judge ordered protection for the students, and on September 17, 13 members of the mob were arrested by the FBI.

Source:

Madeo. (n.d.). Sep. 12, 1966: White Mob attacks black students for integrating Grenada, Mississippi, schools. Home. Retrieved September 13, 2022, from https://calendar.eji.org/racial-injustice/sep/12

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