ABSTRACT
The march should focus on its original intention of eliminating black fear and not on national legislation, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) chair Stokely Carmichael said. James Meredith's plan to march across Mississippi was essentially a personal protest befitting his reputation as something of a civil rights maverick. Meredith gave his blessing for the march to continue. King was so concerned about the new development that he considered withdrawing Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) from the march altogether. The controversy over Black Power among marchers meant that the event was beginning to highlight internal movement divisions more than it was dramatizing the need for civil rights. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Roy Wilkins and the National Urban League's Whitney Young joined them afterwards to discuss strategy and tactics for the march. A stand-off between the marchers and state highway patrolmen soon developed.
