Is Mississippi Still Burning?

On June 21, 1964, James Earl Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner arrived in Philadelphia, Mississippi at Mt. Zion Methodist Church, a building that had been fire-bombed by the Ku Klux Klan because it was planned to be used as a CORE “Freedom School”. Freedom Schools sprung up throughout Mississippi during the summer of 1964 as part of CORE’s (Congress of Racial Equality) “Freedom Summer” project, which aimed to register as many African Americans to vote as possible. Each of these three workers came from different backgrounds. Chaney, a native of Meridian, Mississippi, had been involved in the struggle for civil rights from a young age and had been suspended from school for wearing an NCAAP badge. Goodman, a student at Queens College, had only been in Mississippi for one full day when he made the trip out to Mt. Zion. Schwerner, a recent graduate of Cornell, came to Mississippi with his wife hoping to “spend the rest of his life working for an integrated society.” After briefly investigating the fire bombing, the three CORE workers headed back to the project office in Meridian. On the way, the three men were arrested by Neshoba County police for an alleged traffic violation. Later that evening they were released from the county jail just only to be stopped again on a rural road by a small convoy of Ku Klux Klan members who shot them dead and buried them in an earthen dam. Chaney was twenty-one years old, Goodman was twenty years old, and Schwerner was twenty-four years old.

Yesterday, I and two staff members from the ISJL traveled down the same rural roads these three workers had forty three years earlier to Mt. Zion in Philadelphia, Mississippi for the annual memorial celebration. Social conditions probably haven’t changed much in those parts: dirt roads with ruddy ditches, simple shacks with decomposing siding and tin roofs, and rusted Buicks mired in the front yard’s mud. As we approached the church and entered the sanctuary, we noticed that we were some of the only white people there (we would learn of and meet the other white people after the ceremony, along with a film crew making a documentary and the local state senator). Most of the ceremony was fine (e.g. the music and the emcee); however, the message conveyed by most of the speakers was largely negative. For example: several speakers argued that while the number of African Americans who vote has plummeted in recent decades, more blame is to be placed on the establishment for the lack of black candidates and, in particular, black judges on the federal bench. Furthermore, there was no mention to the fact that Goodman and Schwerner were Jewish. Reference upon reference referred to these three martyr’s belief in Jesus and so forth. This is not to convey any sort of anti-Christian sentiment, but I think it’s important to recognize two of these three workers’ Jewish heritage, especially in lieu of the Goodman or Schwerner family’s attendance at the ceremony. Overall, I wish the message at the service had been more positive, one which encourages and facilitates better community relation (namely between blacks and whites) and also which assumes responsibility where and when needed.

In other news, I had the esteemed opportunity this weekend to go to the Bass Pro Shop. A sort of combination between Disney World and ESPN on early Saturday mornings, this store sells ATVs, boats, handguns, shotguns, bows, crossbows, fishing rods, camping gear, etc. The L.L. Bean store in Freeport, Maine pales in comparison; EMS isn’t even worthy of one. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that this place was GIGANTIC! What’s particularly strange is that among all of these weapons and hallmarks of the rural sporting experience is a Starbucks. Who’s going to purchase a .44 Magnum and then want to enjoy a chai latte? Anyway, in the parking lot I also saw my first Mississippi license plate from Jefferson Davis County. Did the county really need both his first and last name in the name? Isn’t it obvious enough exactly which Davis everyone’s referring to when you live in a state with the confederate flag as part of the state flag? Oh well.