Manipulating the Sphere: Mississippi’s Post-Brown Offensive Against White Journalists

ABSTRACT In the months after the US Supreme Court struck down the doctrine of separate but equal in its Brown v. Board of Education decision, the Mississippi legislature passed a series of laws designed to thwart desegregation. Among them was the creation of the state Sovereignty Commission. This study examines the commission’s actions within the context of the public sphere and its attempts to spy on and intimidate White state journalists. This study argues that examining how the commission functioned as a particularly nefarious manifestation of White supremacy within the context of public information is vital to understanding how debate and policy can be shaped.