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.

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Example Sentences

It is different, but perhaps the closest analog might be so-called "massive resistance" in the South and some other parts of the United States to the mandate of Brown v.

From Salon • May 29, 2025

The takeover was met with massive resistance, which has since turned into what some U.N. experts have characterized as civil war.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 17, 2022

What's most likely is that the majority were neither on the left, supporting civil rights activists, or on the far right, supporting the language and tactics of massive resistance, he thinks.

From BBC • Mar. 12, 2019

But these reforms faced massive resistance, and not only from segregationist demagogues like George Wallace.

From Slate • Apr. 12, 2016

Nor did it follow from the overwhelming support for segregation that a policy of integration would result in massive resistance.

From Integration of the Armed Forces, 1940-1965 by MacGregor, Morris J.