In 1954, the Supreme Court essentially ended segregation in Brown v. Board of education and Southern politicians were outraged by it.
They responded by declaring a policy of "massive resistance" which led them to:
pass laws that would remove state funding from any school that supported integration
establish private schools that did not have to abide by the Supreme Court's ruling
use public funds to fund children in these private schools
The Southern states came up with everything they could to limit the impact of the Supreme Court's decision but with time they were forced to accept it.
In conclusion, the Southern states found many creative ways to resist the Supreme Court outlawing segregation instead of just accepting it.
