During his years in segregated college he attended the interracial seminars organized by the National Association for the Advancement …show more content…
The segregationists groups such as White Citizens Council resisted the integration of schools and civil rights goals. The federal government had to intervene with a force to put down the segregationist policy in Mississippi’s schools when James Meredith, another African-American student, was admitted to the segregated University of Mississippi in 1962. Evers and NAACP played instrumental roles in waging this important ground victory for the racial equality.
Evers’ civil rights leadership made him a target of white supremacists and segregationists. He was assassinated on June 12, 1963 in front of his house by a member of the White Citizens' Council. The murder of Evers made him and his legacy a nationally known figure. He was buried with full military honors in Arlington National Cemetery and awarded the 1963 Spingarn Medal of the NAACP.
The legacy of Medgar Evers is that he greatly contributed to the advancement of the civil rights struggle in Mississippi, and managed to transform NAACP to a formidable agent that was conducted a struggle throughout the South. Mississippi today has the highest number of elected black