Discussions of the free speech rights of students often begin with the Supreme Court’s landmark 1969 ruling, Tinker v. Des Moines. This talk examines two court cases that emerged out of the 1964 Freedom Summer campaign waged by civil rights activists in Mississippi. These cases became the foundation for the court's ruling in Tinker. By understanding these cases within their historical context, the paper demonstrates how the issue of free speech was interconnected to the wider challenge to white supremacy in Mississippi. It argues for a more complex understanding of the relationship between the First Amendment, high school students, and the Black Freedom Struggle.
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