Governor George Wallace of Alabama used his own body to block two black students from entering the auditorium at the University
of Alabama to enroll in the school. Wallace’s desperate attempt to uphold his policy of "segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever," stated during his 1963 inauguration (PBS 2000) became known as the "Stand in the Schoolhouse Door." This is best explained by the:
The "Stand in the Schoolhouse Door" was a landmark event during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. After the Brown v. Board of Education case in 1954, the Supreme Court ruled that segregated schools were unconstitutional. In early 1963, African American students Vivian Malone and James Hood applied to join the University of Alabama, but when they arrived there on June 11 to enroll in the school, Governor George Wallace used his own body to block them from entering the auditorium. President John F. Kennedy summoned the National Guard to command Wallace to step aside, which he finally did after several hours. Malone and Hood then proceeded to finalize their enrollment process to join the university. The National Guard stayed on the university's grounds for the following days, fearing violence by white supremacists. Wallace's actions, which he considered part of his policy of "segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever" are considered a clear manifestation of the embedded effects of racism as, almost a century after the end of the Civil War, public facilities were still segregated in several southern states, and racism was very widespread among all levels of society.
