Full Court Press
Subtitle: Mississippi State University, the Press, and the Battle to Integrate College Basketball
Publisher: University Press of Mississippi
Published: 2016
Language: eng
Number of pages: 270
ISBN-13: 9781496808202
Subjects: College sports
Description: "During the civil rights era, Mississippi was cloaked in the hateful embrace of the Closed Society, the white caste system that enforced segregation and promoted the subservient treatment of blacks. Surprisingly, challenges from Mississippi's college basketball courts brought into question the validity of the Closed Society and its unwritten law, a gentleman's agreement that prevented college teams in the Magnolia State from playing against integrated foes. Mississippi State University was at the forefront of this battle for equality in the state with the school's successful college basketball program. Full Court Press examines news articles, editorials, and columns published in Mississippi's newspapers during the eight-year existence of the gentleman's agreement, the challenges posed by Mississippi State University, and the subsequent integration of college basketball within the state. Full Court Press highlights an ideological metamorphosis within the press during the Civil Rights Movement, slowly transforming from an organ that minimized the rights of blacks to an industry that considered the plight of black Mississippians on equal footing with their white brethren"--