massive resistance

Cultural  

1. The opposition of many white leaders in the South to the decision of the Supreme Court in Brown versus Board of Education 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

That includes Richmond, where some Democrats are as obsessed by race, and as unpleasant, as were their predecessors when implementing “massive resistance” to school desegregation.

From Washington Post

That change to the state constitution, the letter notes, was enacted partly to prevent Virginia’s then-governor from forcing the state Board of Education to obey his preference for “Massive Resistance” to desegregation of the state’s schools.

From Washington Post

“This mountain is about massive resistance to desegregation. It’s not about the Civil War.”

From New York Times

Most scholars who study the second half of the 20th century in the United States would recognize the term “massive resistance.”

From Washington Post

Obama did win his second term, but the GOP seized control of both houses of Congress by employing McConnell’s strategy of massive resistance.

From Washington Post