massive resistance

1. The opposition of many white leaders in the South to the decision of the Supreme Court in in 1954. The Court had declared racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional. The expression massive resistance was used in a letter signed by over a hundred members of Congress , calling on southerners to defy the Supreme Court's ruling.

Example Sentences

Strom responded by writing the first draft of the “Southern Manifesto,” pledging “massive resistance” to desegregation.

From The Daily Beast