White Citizens’ Councils

White Citizens’ Councils developed in response to the Brown ruling. The first council meeting took place in Indianola, Mississippi, in July 1954, and councils soon spread across the South. They attracted white businesspeople and wealthy middle- and upper-class supporters who could use their position in local communities to obstruct change.

White Citizens’ Councils brought together politicians, businesspeople and civic leaders committed to resisting integration. In 1956, more than 100 members of Congress signed the Southern Manifesto, criticising the Brown ruling and calling for resistance to its implementation.