The Mississippi Burnings: The Life Of The Mississippi Burnings

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The Mississippi burnings were nothing but an old fashioned lynching. Hidden and disguised by the help of county officials, this case was overlooked and un-trialed. Nothing was done and three innocent men lost their lives. Michael Schwerner, James Chaney, and Andrew Goodmen were all three active civil rights workers who all fought for what they believed in, equality (Linder). Michael Schwerner, the first white civil rights worker, earned the hostility of the KKK by organizing a black boycott of a white-owned business and aggressively trying to register blacks in and around Meridian to vote (Linder). James Chaney, a native black Meridian, was in Ohio to attend a program to train recruits for the Mississippi summer project which is a program that aimed at improving the lives of black Mississippians (Linder). Also being trained was a college student Andrew Goodmen (Linder). Sam Bowers, the imperial wizard of the white knights of the KKK of Mississippi, sent word in May, 1964 to the Klansmen of Lauderdale and Neshoba County that it was time to activate “plan 4” (Linder). Plan 4 provided for “the elimination” of the despised civil rights activists, was at Mount Zion church during a meeting. It was unsuccessful because they couldn’t find who they were exactly looking for. After getting news of the attempt of execution the three civil rights activists left the Mississippi summer project to go to Longdale to learn what they could about the disturbing news of the attempted execution. When they started their trip back to Longdale the KKK got word of it because they had people on the inside that were on the Neshoba County police force. During their travel they were pulled over by a sheriff, one who happened to be in the KKK. Once pulle... ... middle of paper ... ...vists all over began to fight . Martin Luther King Jr. praised the FBI for its work for arresting the men who were in connection with the murders but he was still not happy with how the case turned out. Racial discrimination in this time period was a very crucial issue. This case should have never happened. Why were these men murdered for fighting for what they believed in? The civil rights act of 1964 was a prime example of what should have been done before these men were murdered and all of these executions might have been prevented. To this day racial segregation, religion and other forms of discrimination still go on but something is being done about it. Innocent people are not being murdered because of three men who lost their lives due to discrimination. Even though these men are gone it is because of their death that people are still fighting for equality.

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