On June 6, 1966, James Meredith, a civil rights activist and the first African-American student to enroll at the University of Mississippi, was shot and seriously wounded by a white supremacist during a march in Mississippi.
Meredith had set out from Memphis, Tennessee, on a 220-mile march to Jackson, Mississippi, to protest the continued segregation of the state’s schools and public facilities. He was accompanied by a group of civil rights workers and supporters, both Black and white.
On the second day of the march, as the group was walking along a highway in Grenada County, Mississippi, they were ambushed by a group of white men. Meredith was shot in the back and abdomen, and several other marchers were also injured.
Meredith was rushed to the hospital in critical condition, but he eventually recovered from his injuries. The shooting sparked outrage and protests across the country, and it helped to focus national attention on the issue of civil rights in Mississippi.
The shooting of James Meredith was a turning point in the civil rights movement. It helped to galvanize support for the movement and contributed to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, which outlawed discrimination in housing, employment, and public accommodations.
