On this date in 1954, the first White Citizens’ Council (WCC) was established in Indianola, Mississippi. This organization was created by white segregationists in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in Brown v. Board of Education (1954), which declared racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional.

The White Citizens’ Councils, often referred to as the “uptown Klan,” aimed to resist racial integration through economic and political pressure rather than outright violence. They used tactics such as firing Black workers who supported desegregation, denying loans to Black business owners, and lobbying for segregationist policies. The movement quickly spread throughout the South, influencing local and state governments to resist civil rights advancements.