Giles recalls North Carolina politicians' immediate reaction to the Brown case as moderate in comparison to other southern states. He describes the Pupil Assignment Act as the prime example of the state's moderation. The Act avoided a statewide desegregation policy, calming whites' fears, but it also allowed the public to believe that they were in control of school assignments. Because the Brown case lacked the teeth to enforce desegregation on a federal level, Giles argues that states gained broad discretionary powers to preserve segregated schools.