A Shot that Ricocheted through History

1842 Words4 Pages

“ A Shot That Ricocheted Through History”
Medgar Evers was a man who was not afraid to stand up for what he believed in. He believed that one-day blacks and whites would be able to associate with each other without racial interference. He would later die for what he believed and leave an example for all who was following in his path. The man believed to have shot him was tried three times and finally convicted in the third trial nearly thirty years after his death. Evers was seen as a martyr for all black to look up to.
As civil rights began to gain attention of the United States, blacks decided they needed to change their approach from court cases to a more nonviolent approach. On August 28, 1963, the movement reached its strongest points. They made a march at Washington D. C., and wanted to federal civil rights legislation to give them equal rights. This is where Martin Luther King gave his famous “I Have A Dream” speech. King believed that most whites were basically decent and when faced by love would allow injustice and brutality to continue. (Jordan) The nonviolent approach would prove to be a better approach for them in later times.
When blacks began charging their approach, they began preferring sit-ins. This all started at a public lunch counter at F. W. Woolsworth’s in Greensboro, North Carolina and began to spread to all public land counties across the south. As sit-ins became more common, they moved to other public places such as parks, movie theatres, swimming pools, libraries, lobbies, and many other segregated facilities. After several months of sit-ins, they began to become desegregated. Blacks also began a strong movement to get public schools desegregated as well. They finally succeeded with Ole Miss, when they accepted James Meredith into the school. President Kennedy also tried to help blacks by approaching the problem with caution. He did this by encouraging company with government contracts to hire black Americans.
On July 2, 1925 in Decatur, Ms, a black man by the name of Medgar Wiley Evers was born. Until he joined the Army in 1943, he attended school in Decatur. He served Normandy and to Alcorn to pursue his college education in which he majored in business administration. While there, he participated in many school...

... middle of paper ...

...egacy of Evers is everywhere present today. This peaceful man, who had constantly urged that violence is not the way ,but paid for his beliefs with his life, was a prominent voice of struggle for civil rights in Mississippi.” Many people, including his wife paid tribute to him into years past. His wife wrote a book called For Us, The Living, but the best is said to be, Mississippi, Black History Makers. Ten years after his death it was recorded that there had been one hundred and forty five black officials elected to office in Mississippi, and that there was a black student in each of the states private schools. In 1970, the Department of Health, Education, and welfare said that twenty-six percent of black people in the Mississippi public schools system with at least fifty percent white enrollment. In 1913, there were only twenty eight thousand blacks registered voters, and by 1971 there were two hundred and fifty thousand. Even in 1982, there were five hundred thousand. (JDP) Though the hard work and struggle of one man was ended with death, the changed be brought about are still evident today. This has only made Mississippi a better and more peaceful place to live for all races.

Open Document