What does the phrase with all deliberate speed mean to you? You might hear it and think quickly and deliberately speed things along, right? Be speedy about your integration. Deliberately be speedy. That’s absolutely what I thought, and what I was taught as a high school student. But that’s not what with all deliberate speed meant to segregationists. Deliberate in this context meant slowly and carefully. To them, “With all deliberate speed” meant integrate schools at a snail’s pace. As they were creating plans for the legally required school integration, civil rights activists and lawyers made
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