Similarly, at the University of Alabama, George Wallace stood in the schoolhouse door in June 1963 and attempted to bar the admission of black students. Even today, conflicts over the Confederate flag continue to cause a flap on campuses, and many schools south of the Mason-Dixon line still have to follow federal court desegregation mandates. Because of this segregated past, minority-student influence and power on campuses have been stunted. The creation of a vital African-American alumni base has been slow to develop as well. Today, however, academics say race relations are improving - more than in other parts of the country.
All society has a long way to go.
If anything, the South may be progressing faster because it has to make up for lost time. Earnest and enthusiastic, he intends to travel Mississippi in a bus, telling high school students that the Southern school is a changed place, leaving history where it belongs - as a part of history. Erasing prejudices won't go away in a year, but we can do everything to make them go away as quickly as possible in this century.