By Franita Tolson ( May 16, 2018, 2:05 PM EDT) -- On May 17, 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Brown v. Board Education, the landmark case that struck down segregation in primary and secondary education. Instead of being universally celebrated, Brown was immediately reviled by Southern politicians, who swiftly and viciously attacked the decision. Sen. James Eastland of Mississippi, for example, pledged that "the South will not abide by nor obey this legislative decision by a political body." Similarly, Georgia Gov. Herman Talmadge vowed to use his authority "to map a program to insure continued and permanent segregation." Given this opposition, it took many years for Brown to achieve the status of a moral and legal truth that should be beyond question in American society....