 A complex interaction of factors came together unexpectedly in the period 1954–1965 to make the momentous changes possible.The Supreme Court had taken the first initiative in Brown v. Board of Education (1954) making segregation of public schools unconstitutional.Enforcement was rapid in the North and border states, but was deliberately stopped in the South by the movement called Massive Resistance, sponsored by rural segregationists who largely controlled the state legislatures.