As with many communities in Mississippi, McComb experienced great upheaval during the civil rights period. Local activists worked with young people from the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) to expose the racist practices in the community. Young people were especially in the vanguard of efforts in McComb, participating in direct action campaigns and voter registration drives and even protesting in a school walk-out.

In 2004, the current mayor of McComb, Tommy Walman, initiated a racial reconciliation initiative in partnership with the William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation at the University of Mississippi. A community-wide dialogue process began, as well as an oral history project.

The McComb City School system joined the effort and began a curriculum development initiative around the civil rights movement. Partnering with Teaching for Change and the People's Institute, the school system began a series of workshops for administrators. The workshops included curriculum development preparation and anti-racism training. Similar efforts continued in the larger community. The school system and the city have committed to a multi-year curriculum development initiative and hope to reach out to the surrounding counties for a widespread, effective exploration of the past.