that 1954 supreme court ruling set off one of the most contentious battles in this nation's racial history. >> state and local police were unable to control a mob which reacted in bitter violence on learning that nine negroes entered the school as students. >> the resistance was led by the governor of arkansas. >> we are now an occupied territory. >> it would become a rallying cry for segregationists across the country. >> i see a political organization based on racial nationalists. a third party based on race. >> state by state, district by district, school by school, desegregation came to the south, often met with bloody resistance. >> negro james meredith attended classes at the university of mississippi today. violent rioting broke out. two persons lost their lives. more than 75 were injured. >> meanwhile, most schools in north remained segregated. >> we have seen the north perfectly willing for the south to accept change in its social pattern is often quite reluctant