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I knew that the Supreme Court had held unanimously, maybe with one percent, as I recall, in 1896,

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in the case of Plessy v. Ferguson, that separate and equal schools were permissible under the

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Constitution of the United States.

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And I remember where I was on that particular day.

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I was making a speech in Cedartown, Georgia, dedicating an airport.

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And I was flying in a National Guard plane.

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And about the time I concluded my speech, someone reported to me that the Supreme Court

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had handed down a decision outlawing segregation in our public schools.

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So I got away from Cedartown just as quick as I could and went back to Atlanta.

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And of course, the news media were calling me for statements from all over the country.

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And I, along with I think every Southern governor at that time, took a very strong position

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that the Supreme Court of the United States had gone too far in its ruling that it should

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have been bound by the decision of 1896.

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And Congress had not acted on it.

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The Constitution had not acted on it.