Why People Disappear a Little at a Time: The Psychology of Shrinking™

I want to start by telling you about a man whose life shows us what it means to resist pressure.

His name may not immediately ring a bell, and it may not sound as familiar as some of the names we hear during conversations about American history, but his courage changed the course of history and opened a path that so many others would later walk.

His name was James Meredith, and he was born in Mississippi in 1933.

After serving in the United States Air Force, he attended Jackson State College.

But he decided he wanted to continue his education at the University of Mississippi, commonly known as Ole Miss.

Now, at that time, the university was segregated.

Black students weren't welcome, not because they lacked the intelligence, discipline, or qualifications to attend, but because racism had been built into the institution and defended as though exclusion were a tradition worth protecting.

Now, Meredith applied more than once.

He was denied admission, but he didn't quietly accept the university's answer.

with the support of the naacp legal defense educational fund he challenged the decision in court a federal court ultimately ruled in his favor but as you know a court order didn't magically create acceptance the university and state officials continued trying to prevent him from enrolling mississippi governor at the time ross barnett personally resisted the order and the conflict became a national confrontation and on september thirtieth nineteen sixty two james meredith arrived at old miss under federal protection his arrival was met with violence Two people were killed, many others were injured, and federal marshals were sent to help restore order.

Imagine preparing for your first day at a university while people are writing because they believe your presence threatens the world they want to preserve.

Most students worry about finding the right classroom.

Meredith had to wonder whether he would survive long enough to enter it.

And the hostility didn't end after enrollment.

Meredith faced harassment and profound isolation on campus.

It was reported that students turned their backs when he entered the cafeteria.

When he sat down, people would get up and leave.

Noise was deliberately made near his room to prevent him from resting.

He was watched, rejected, and reminded again and again that many people didn't believe he belonged there.

The world around James Meredith kept trying to push him out of a space it had decided he shouldn't occupy.

Every turned back carried a message.

Every empty seat beside him carried a message.

And every effort to exhaust him carried a message as well.

Become smaller, go away, and disappear.

But Meredith endured.