American Experience (1988) s19e03 Episode Script
Eyes on the Prize: Parts 5 & 6 - Is This America?/Bridge to Freedom
1
THIS IS A SPECIAL PRESENTATION
OF AMERICAN EXPERIENCE.
MAJOR FUNDING FOR AMERICAN
EXPERIENCE WITH CAPTIONING
IS PROVIDED BY THE
ALFRED P. SLOAN FOUNDATION.
NATIONAL CORPORATE FUNDING
IS PROVIDED BY LIBERTY MUTUAL
AND THE SCOTTS COMPANY.
AMERICAN EXPERIENCE
IS ALSO MADE POSSIBLE
BY THE CORPORATION
FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING
AND BY:
FUNDING FOR THE RE-RELEASE
OF EYES ON THE PRIZE
MADE POSSIBLE BY:
AND:
THERE IS NO STATE
WITH A RECORD THAT APPROACHES
THAT OF MISSISSIPPI
IN INHUMANITY, MURDER,
BRUTALITY AND RACIAL HATRED.
IT IS ABSOLUTELY A
THE BOTTOM OF THE LIST.
Narrator:
IN 1964, THE STATE
OF MISSISSIPPI
CALL IT AN INVASION.
CIVIL RIGHTS WORKERS
CALLED IT "FREEDOM SUMMER."
TO CHANGE MISSISSIPPI
AND THE COUNTRY,
THEY WOULD RISK BEATINGS,
ARRESTS AND THEIR LIVES.
Woman:
Y'ALL KNOW WHA
MY CHILD HAS DONE.
HE WAS TRYING FOR US ALL
TO MAKE A BETTER LIVING.
AND HE HAD TWO FELLAS
FROM NEW YORK
HAD THEIR OWN HOME
AND EVERYTHING.
DIDN'T HAVE NOTHING
TO WORRY ABOUT.
BUT THEY COME HERE TO HELP US.
DID Y'ALL KNOW THEY
COME HERE TO HELP US?
THEY DIED FOR US!
I KNOW THE ONE
THING WE DID RIGHT ♪
WAS THE DAY WE
STARTED TO FIGHT ♪
KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE PRIZE ♪
HOLD ON, HOLD ON ♪
KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE PRIZE ♪
HOLD ON. ♪
PEOPLE LIKE MYSELF
I WAS BORN ON THIS RIVER.
I LOVE THE LAND.
IT'S THE DELTA.
AND TO ME, IT'S NOW A
CHALLENGE, IT'S HISTORY;
IT'S EVERYTHING OF WHA
BLACK PEOPLE IS ALL ABOUT.
WE CAME UP OUT OF SLAVERY
AND THIS IS WHERE WE ACTED
IT OUT, I SUPPOSE
ALL OF THE WORK, ALL THE
HARD WORK, AND ALL THAT.
BUT WE PUT IN OUR
BLOOD, SWEAT AND TEARS
AND WE LOVE THE LAND.
THIS IS MISSISSIPPI.
Man:
I'VE LIVED IN THIS
DELTA ALL MY LIFE.
MY PARENTS BEFORE ME,
AND MY GRANDPARENTS.
I'VE HUNTED AND FISHED
THIS LAND SINCE I WAS A CHILD.
THIS LAND IS COMPOSED OF
TWO DIFFERENT CULTURES,
A WHITE CULTURE
AND A COLORED CULTURE,
AND I'VE LIVED CLOSE
TO THEM ALL MY LIFE.
BUT I'M TOLD NOW THA
WE'VE MISTREATED THEM
AND THAT WE MUST CHANGE
AND THESE CHANGES ARE COMING
FASTER THAN I EXPECTED.
AND I AM REQUIRED
TO MAKE DECISIONS
ON A BASIS OF A NEW
WAY OF THINKING
AND IT'S DIFFICULT.
IT'S DIFFICULT FOR ME.
IT'S DIFFICULT FOR
ALL SOUTHERNERS.
I WAS BORN IN MISSISSIPPI,
IN THE UNITED STATES,
AND I AM THE PRODUCT OF
MY HEREDITY AND EDUCATION
AND THE SOCIETY
IN WHICH I WAS RAISED.
AND I HAVE A VESTED
INTEREST IN THAT SOCIETY
AND I, ALONG WITH A MILLION
OTHER WHITE MISSISSIPPIANS,
WILL DO EVERYTHING
IN OUR POWER
TO PROTECT THAT VESTED INTEREST.
IT'S JUST AS SIMPLE AS THAT.
Narrator:
IN 1954, THE CITIZENS' COUNCIL
WAS ESTABLISHED IN THE DELTA,
THE NORTHWEST SECTION
OF THE STATE,
WHERE BLACKS OUTNUMBERED WHITES.
THE COUNCIL'S PURPOSE:
TO PRESERVE WHITE
POLITICAL POWER
BY OPPOSING INTEGRATION.
COUNCIL CHAPTERS SOON
SPREAD ACROSS THE STATE.
WITHIN FOUR YEARS,
THE CITIZENS' COUNCIL
WAS POWERFUL ENOUGH
THAT IN THE ELECTION OF 1959,
IT THREW ITS SUPPOR
OPENLY AND ACTIVELY
BEHIND THE CANDIDACY
OF A DAMAGE SUIT LAWYER
NAMED ROSS BARNETT,
NOT ONE OF THE WORLD'S MOS
SUCCESSFUL POLITICIANS
UP TO THEN,
AND SAW HIM ELECTED
OVER A SUPPOSED MODERATE
WHO WAS HIMSELF
A SEGREGATIONIST,
BUT WITH A QUIETER VOICE
THAN ROSS BARNETT.
AND FROM 1959 UNTIL 1963,
IN THE BARNETT ADMINISTRATION,
THE CITIZENS' COUNCIL
WAS THE STATE
AND THE STATE EFFECTIVELY,
ON MATTERS RACIAL,
WAS THE CITIZENS' COUNCIL.
Narrator:
BANKERS, POLITICIANS
AND OWNERS OF BUSINESSES
JOINED THE CITIZENS' COUNCILS
THROUGHOUT THE SOUTH.
THEY PUNISHED PEOPLE WHO
SUPPORTED INTEGRATION
OR BLACK VOTING RIGHTS
BY FORECLOSING MORTGAGES,
FIRING WORKERS
OR REFUSING LOANS TO FARMERS.
AND THEY USED THEIR INFLUENCE
TO PUSH THROUGH LAWS
THAT WOULD ENSURE CONTINUED
WHITE DOMINATION.
IT'S PRIMARILY
A STRUGGLE FOR POWER.
AND I THINK WE WOULD
BE STUPID INDEED
IF WE FAILED TO SEE
WHERE THE CONSEQUENCES
OF A SUPINE SURRENDER
ON OUR PART WOULD LEAD.
Narrator:
AT THE CENTER OF MISSISSIPPI'S
STRUGGLE FOR POWER
WAS THE BLACK VOTE.
IN SOME COUNTIES, BLACKS
OUTNUMBERED WHITES FOUR TO ONE.
IN 1962, IN MANY COUNTIES,
NO BLACKS WERE REGISTERED.
THERE'S A BIG PSYCHOLOGICAL
GAP TO OVERCOME.
THERE'S WHAT A LOT OF PEOPLE
CALL A "PSYCHOLOGY OF FEAR"
ON THE PART OF
MOST OF THE NEGROES.
THEY'RE AFRAID OF
LOSING THEIR JOBS.
THEY'VE BEEN BRAINWASHED.
THEY THINK THAT SOMEHOW
ALL OF THIS IS THE BUSINESS
OF THE WHITE MAN
AND THAT IT'S NOT SOMETHING THA
THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO BE DOING.
Narrator:
26-YEAR-OLD BOB MOSES
CAME TO MISSISSIPPI
AT THE REQUEST OF AMZIE
MOORE, AN N.A.A.C.P. LEADER.
MOSES AND OTHER S.N.C.C.
ORGANIZERS OPENED OFFICES
THROUGHOUT THE STATE TO RECRUI
LOCAL MISSISSIPPIANS.
I WAS ASKED
WOULD I JOIN THE S.N.C.C.,
WHICH WAS STUDENT NONVIOLEN
COORDINATING COMMITTEE,
AND I SAID, "YES."
WELL, WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO?"
THEY SAID, "JUST TRY
TO ENCOURAGE PEOPLE
TO GO AND TRY TO REGISTER,
GO OVER TO THE COURTHOUSE."
AND THAT WAS MY STAR
OF GOING ROUND HERE
TO MY NEIGHBORS AND FRIENDS
AND ASKING THEM, YOU KNOW,
WOULD THEY COME AND GO
TO THE COURTHOUSE
AND TRY TO REGISTER TO VOTE.
PEOPLE WERE BEING PU
OFF THE PLANTATIONS;
PEOPLE WERE THREATENED;
FOLKS WAS PUT IN JAIL
JUST BECAUSE WE WANTED PEOPLE
TO TRY TO REGISTER TO VOTE.
Narrator:
SOME ATTEMPTING TO REGISTER
HAD EVEN BEEN MURDERED
TO STOP BLACK POLITICAL ACTIVITY
AND THE STATE PASSED
NEW VOTING LAWS
TO MAKE REGISTRATION
MORE DIFFICULT.
ON THIS SIDE.
AND RIGHT HERE
YOU INTERPRET;
IN OTHER WORDS,
YOU TELL WHAT IT MEANS.
JUST WRITE YOUR MEANING,
YOUR UNDERSTANDING
OF IT.
REGISTERING TO VOTE
AT THAT TIME MEAN
THAT YOU FILLED OU
A 22-QUESTION QUESTIONNAIRE.
ONE OF THE QUESTIONS WAS:
"INTERPRET ANY OF
THE 286 SECTIONS
"OF THE MISSISSIPPI CONSTITUTION
TO THE SATISFACTION
OF THE REGISTRAR."
THAT SOME OF THOSE REGISTRARS
COULDN'T READ OR WRITE.
BUT THAT DIDN'T MATTER.
THEY COULD STILL DETERMINE
WHO SHOULD BE REGISTERED
IF THAT PERSON
HAPPENED TO BE BLACK,
BECAUSE ALL WHITES WHO ATTEMPTED
TO REGISTER WERE REGISTERED.
Narrator:
AS THE STRUGGLE
FOR VOTING RIGHTS
ESCALATED IN THE DELTA,
TENSION WAS BUILDING IN
JACKSON, THE STATE CAPITAL
AND THE LAST STOP
OF THE FREEDOM RIDES IN 1961.
A LEADER IN JACKSON
AND THROUGHOUT THE STATE
WAS MEDGAR EVERS, N.A.A.C.P.
STATE FIELD SECRETARY.
EVERS HAD SUPPORTED JAMES
MEREDITH DURING THE BATTLE
TO INTEGRATE THE
UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI.
FOR TEN YEARS,
HE HAD TRAVELED THE STATE,
FIGHTING FOR RACIAL JUSTICE,
AND NOW HELPED ORGANIZE
THE N.A.A.C.P. BOYCOT
OF DOWNTOWN STORES.
DON'T SHOP FOR ANYTHING
ON CAPITOL STREET.
LET'S LET THE MERCHANTS
DOWN ON CAPITOL STREE
FEEL THE ECONOMIC PINCH.
LET ME SAY THIS TO YOU:
I HAD ONE MERCHANT CALL ME
AND HE SAID, "I WANT YOU TO KNOW
"THAT I TALKED TO MY
NATIONAL OFFICE TODAY
"AND THEY WANT ME TO TELL YOU
THAT WE DON'T NEED
NIGGER BUSINESS."
THESE ARE STORES THAT HELP
TO SUPPOR
THE WHITE CITIZENS' COUNCIL,
THE COUNCIL THAT IS DEDICATED
TO KEEPING YOU AND I
SECOND-CLASS CITIZENS.
NOW, FINALLY,
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,
WE'LL BE DEMONSTRATING HERE
UNTIL FREEDOM COMES TO NEGROES
HERE IN JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI.
Narrator:
IN JUNE 1963,
STUDENTS IN JACKSON POURED
OUT OF THEIR SCHOOLS
TO PROTEST THE BEATINGS
AND ARREST OF DEMONSTRATORS
IN DOWNTOWN SIT-INS.
IN RESPONSE, JACKSON OFFICIALS
PUT POLICE AND FIREMEN
ON 24-HOUR ALERT,
WITH ORDERS TO CONTAIN
THE DEMONSTRATORS.
HALT.
HALT!
DID YOU HEAR ME?
(people shouting )
WE SHALL NOT,
WE SHALL NOT BE MOVED ♪
WE SHALL NOT, WE SHALL
NOT BE MOVED ♪
Narrator:
HUNDREDS WERE ARRESTED.
MAYOR ALAN THOMPSON ANNOUNCED
THAT JACKSON COULD HANDLE
10,000 IF NECESSARY.
THE ATTITUDE OF
JACKSON CITY OFFICIALS
THAT BLACKS IN MISSISSIPPI
WOULD HAVE NO REAL POWER
UNTIL THEY HAD THE POWER TO
ELECT THOSE WHO GOVERNED THEM.
(chanting):
FREEDOM! FREEDOM! FREEDOM!
IF YOU ARE NO
A REGISTERED VOTER,
REMEMBER THIS ONE THING;
THAT ALAN THOMPSON GO
IN THE MAYOR'S OFFICE
BY THE MAJORITY OF THE FOLK
WHO WERE QUALIFIED TO VOTE
AND VOTED ON THE DAY
THAT HE WAS ELECTED.
ROSS BARNETT GOT IN OFFICE
BECAUSE HE WAS ELECTED
BY THE MAJORITY OF THE FOLK
WHO WERE QUALIFIED TO VOTE
AND VOTED ON THE DAY
THAT HE WAS ELECTED,
AND IF YOU DON'
LIKE THIS THING,
LET'S GET READY TO CHANGE IT!
(cheering and applause )
Narrator:
DEMONSTRATORS WERE
NOT BACKING DOWN
AND MANY WERE BEING INJURED.
FOR MEDGAR EVERS,
THE SITUATION GREW
MORE DANGEROUS
WITH EVERY PASSING DAY.
IT WAS SIMPLY IN THE AIR.
YOU KNEW THAT SOMETHING
WAS GOING TO HAPPEN
AND THE LOGICAL PERSON FOR
IT TO HAPPEN TO WAS MEDGAR.
IT CERTAINLY BROUGHT US CLOSER
DURING THAT TIME.
AS A MATTER OF FACT, WE DIDN'
TALK; WE DIDN'T HAVE TO.
WE COMMUNICATED WITHOUT WORDS.
IT WAS A TOUCH, IT WAS A LOOK,
IT WAS HOLDING EACH OTHER,
IT WAS MUSIC PLAYING.
AND I USED TO TRY TO REASSURE
HIM AND TELL HIM,
"NOTHING'S GOING
TO HAPPEN TO YOU.
THE F.B.I. IS HERE" LAUGH
UM, "EVERYBODY KNOWS YOU,
YOU'RE IN THE PRESS.
THEY WOULDN'T DARE
DO ANYTHING TO YOU."
Narrator:
ON JUNE 11, 1963, MYRLIE
EVERS WATCHED AT HOME
AS PRESIDENT JOHN KENNEDY MADE
HIS STRONGEST SPEECH
ON CIVIL RIGHTS.
IT IS NOT ENOUGH
TO PIN THE BLAME ON OTHERS,
TO SAY THIS IS A PROBLEM
OF ONE SECTION OF THE COUNTRY
OR ANOTHER,
OR DEPLORE THE FACTS
THAT WE FACE.
A GREAT CHANGE IS AT HAND
AND OUR TASK, OUR OBLIGATION
IS TO MAKE THA
REVOLUTION, THAT CHANGE
PEACEFUL AND
CONSTRUCTIVE FOR ALL.
THOSE WHO DO NOTHING
ARE INVITING SHAME,
AS WELL AS VIOLENCE.
THOSE WHO ACT BOLDLY
ARE RECOGNIZING RIGH
AS WELL AS REALITY.
LATE THAT NIGHT, HE CAME HOME.
THE CHILDREN WERE STILL UP,
I WAS ASLEEP ACROSS THE BED
AND WE HEARD THE MOTOR
OF THE CAR COMING IN
AND PULLING INTO THE DRIVEWAY.
WE HEARD HIM GET OUT OF THE
CAR AND THE CAR DOOR SLAM,
AND IN THAT SAME INSTANCE,
WE HEARD THE LOUD GUNFIRE.
THE CHILDREN FELL TO THE FLOOR,
AS HE HAD TAUGHT THEM TO DO.
I MADE A RUN FOR THE FRONT DOOR,
TURNED ON THE LIGH
AND THERE HE WAS.
THE FORCE OF THE BULLE
HAD PUSHED HIM FORWARD,
AS I UNDERSTAND,
AND THE STRONG MAN THAT HE WAS,
HE HAD HIS KEYS IN HIS HAND
AND HAD PULLED HIS BODY AROUND
THE REST OF THE WAY TO THE DOOR.
UM THERE HE LAY.
AND I SCREAMED,
AND PEOPLE CAME OUT.
OUR NEXT-DOOR NEIGHBOR
FIRED A GUN,
AS HE SAID, TO TRY
TO FRIGHTEN ANYONE AWAY.
AND I KNEW THEN THAT
THAT WAS IT.
(siren wailing )
Narrator:
MEDGAR EVERS HAD
BEEN SHOT IN THE BACK
BY A SINGLE ROUND FROM
A HIGH-POWERED RIFLE.
THE ONE FINGERPRIN
FOUND ON THE WEAPON
BELONGED
TO BYRON DE LA BECKWITH,
A MEMBER OF THE
CITIZENS' COUNCIL
IN GREENWOOD, MISSISSIPPI.
MEDGAR EVERS, 37 YEARS OLD,
DIED ONE HOUR LATER.
WHEN MEDGAR WAS
FELLED BY THAT SHO
AND I RUSHED OU
AND SAW HIM LYING THERE
AND PEOPLE FROM THE
NEIGHBORHOOD BEGAN TO GATHER,
THERE WERE ALSO SOME WHOSE COLOR
HAPPENED TO HAVE BEEN WHITE.
I DON'T THINK I HAVE EVER
HATED AS MUCH IN MY LIFE
AS I DID AT THA
PARTICULAR MOMEN
WITH ANYONE WHO HAD WHITE SKIN.
I SCREAMED AT THE NEIGHBORS
AND WHEN THE POLICE
FINALLY GOT THERE,
I TOLD THEM THA
THEY HAD KILLED MEDGAR.
AND I CAN RECALL
WANTING SO MUCH
TO HAVE A MACHINE GUN
OR SOMETHING IN MY HANDS
AND JUST STAND THERE
AND MOW THEM ALL DOWN.
I WAS JUST
I CAN'T EXPLAIN THE DEPTH
OF MY HATRED AT THAT POINT.
WE VIEW THIS AS A COLD, BRUTAL,
DELIBERATE KILLING
IN A SAVAGE, UNCIVILIZED STATE
THE MOST SAVAGE,
THE MOST UNCIVILIZED STATE
IN THE ENTIRE 50 STATES.
THERE IS NO STATE
WITH A RECORD THAT APPROACHES
THAT OF MISSISSIPPI
IN INHUMANITY, MURDER,
BRUTALITY AND RACIAL HATRED.
IT IS ABSOLUTELY A
THE BOTTOM OF THE LIST.
Man:
IN JACKSON,
MISSISSIPPI, IN 1963 ♪
THERE LIVED A MAN
WHO WAS BRAVE ♪
HE FOUGHT FOR FREEDOM ♪
ALL OF HIS LIFE ♪
BUT THEY LAID MEDGAR EVERS ♪
IN HIS GRAVE. ♪
ON THE DAY THA
MEDGAR WAS FUNERAL,
I MEAN, THERE WAS VIOLENCE.
THERE WAS NO WAY TO PREDICT IT.
THERE WAS A DIFFEREN
ELEMENT OF PEOPLE
WHO HAD NEVER PARTICIPATED
IN THE MOVEMENT BEFORE
THE GUYS OFF THE STREET,
WHO WERE JUST ANGRY, YOU KNOW,
WHO AT THAT TIME IS WE HAD
VERY LITTLE CONTACT WITH
IN THE JACKSON AREA.
WE HAD MOSTLY WORKED
THROUGH CHURCHES,
WE HAD WORKED THROUGH STUDENTS,
YOUNG PEOPLE,
AND THEN JUST PEOPLE IN GENERAL,
YOU KNOW.
BUT THE STREET PEOPLE WE HAD
NOT REALLY WORKED WITH,
BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T WAN
TO HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH US
BECAUSE THEY ALWAYS FEL
THAT THEY COULD NOT COPE
WITH THE NONVIOLENCE.
NOT THAT THEY
DISAGREED WITH THE MOVEMENT,
JUST THE TACTICS THAT WE USED.
AND ON THAT PARTICULAR DAY,
THAT GROUP OF PEOPLE
DECIDED TO SPEAK OUT.
(people shouting )
THE POLICE DEPARTMEN
AND OTHERS CAME THERE.
THEY ACTUALLY
ANTAGONIZED THE PEOPLE.
THEY WERE THERE IN
FULL BATTALION GEAR
WITH THE RIOT ARMOR ON AND GUNS,
AND THEY WERE BEING PRETTY ROUGH
WITH THE PEOPLE ON THE STREET.
AND THE PEOPLE JUST SAID,
"WE'RE NOT GOING TO TAKE THAT.
"THIS IS THE FUNERAL
OF OUR LEADER.
"AND HERE THEY ARE,
HARASSING US
AND THE WHITE FOLK
KILLED HIM."
Narrator:
SHOTS HAD ALREADY BEEN FIRED
WHEN JOHN DOAR, A JUSTICE
DEPARTMENT ATTORNEY,
STEPPED BETWEEN THE CROWDS
AND THE POLICE.
WITH THE HELP OF DAVE
DENNIS AND OTHERS,
DOAR CONVINCED BOTH
SIDES TO BACK OFF.
THE DEMONSTRATORS WENT HOME.
MEDGAR EVERS WAS BURIED
IN ARLINGTON CEMETERY
WITH FULL MILITARY HONORS.
NO ONE WAS EVER
CONVICTED OF HIS MURDER.
THE ASSASSINATION
OF MEDGAR EVERS
ON A STATE WHICH SEEMED AT WAR
WITH HALF OF ITS OWN CITIZENS.
AS ANGER GREW, SO DID A CONCERN
THAT MISSISSIPPI COULD NEVER
BE MADE TO CHANGE FROM WITHIN.
CIVIL RIGHTS LEADERS
AND SYMPATHETIC WHITES
TRAVELED TO THE SOUTH
TO SEE FIRSTHAND
THE STATE CALLED
"THE CLOSED SOCIETY."
ANY DOUBTS WE HAD ABOUT THE
DESIRABILITY OF COMING DOWN
BEFORE WE CAME
HAVE BEEN REMOVED BY WHAT WE'VE
SEEN SINCE WE'VE BEEN HERE.
WHAT WE'VE DISCOVERED IS
THAT THE PEOPLE WHO RUN
MISSISSIPPI TODAY
CAN ONLY DO SO BY FORCE.
THEY CANNOT ALLOW A FREE
ELECTION IN MISSISSIPPI
BECAUSE IF THEY DID, THEY
WOULDN'T RUN MISSISSIPPI.
AND AS WE GO AROUND MISSISSIPPI
AND ARE ARRESTED AND BEATEN
AND CHARGED WITH MISCELLANEOUS
AND VERY IMAGINATIVE TRAFFIC
VIOLATIONS THAT DON'T OCCUR
AND THREATENED
AND TOLD TO LEAVE,
WE UNDERSTAND WHY THE PEOPLE
ASKED US TO COME DOWN HERE,
BECAUSE INSIDE MISSISSIPPI, THE
RULE OF FORCE IS SO HARD ON THEM
THAT THEY CAN'T SHAKE THE YOKE.
BUT WHEN WE LEAVE MISSISSIPPI,
WE'LL TELL WHAT WE HAVE FOUND.
AND THE PEOPLE
OF THE UNITED STATES
AREN'T GOING TO ALLOW THIS
TO GO ON FOREVER.
Narrator:
MOVEMENT LEADERS DEBATED
HOW TO KEEP NATIONAL
ATTENTION ON MISSISSIPPI.
IN JUNE 1964, BOB MOSES
ANNOUNCED "FREEDOM SUMMER."
WE HOPE TO SEND INTO
MISSISSIPPI THIS SUMMER
UPWARDS OF 1,000 TEACHERS,
MINISTERS, LAWYERS AND STUDENTS
FROM ALL AROUND THE COUNTRY
WHO WILL ENGAGE IN WHAT WE
ARE CALLING "FREEDOM SCHOOLS,"
COMMUNITY CENTER PROGRAMS,
VOTER REGISTRATION ACTIVITY,
RESEARCH WORK, WORK IN
THE WHITE COMMUNITIES
AND, IN GENERAL, A PROGRAM
DESIGNED TO OPEN UP MISSISSIPPI
TO THE COUNTRY.
Narrator:
OPENING UP MISSISSIPPI
WOULD NOT BE EASY.
LOCAL NEWSPAPERS WARNED
OF A COMING INVASION.
GOVERNOR PAUL JOHNSON CALLED
FOR MORE HIGHWAY PATROLMEN.
THE CITY OF JACKSON
ORDERED AN ARMORED TRUCK
FOR RIOT CONTROL
ALL TO RESIST COLLEGE STUDENTS
FROM ACROSS THE COUNTRY
WHO HAD VOLUNTEERED TO WORK
IN THE STATE DURING THE SUMMER.
MOST OF THE STUDENTS
THAT PEOPLE WERE BRINGING
IN FOR THE SUMMER PROJEC
WERE FROM THE LARGE UNIVERSITIES
AND THEY WERE FROM FAMILIES
WHO WERE POLITICIANS, BANKERS,
LAWYERS AND OTHERS.
AND WE FELT BY THE FAC
THAT BRINGING IN
THOSE PARTICULAR PEOPLE
THAT THE ATTENTION OF THEIR
PARENTS AND RELATIVES
FROM THE VARIOUS DIFFEREN
OTHER PARTS OF THE COUNTRY
WOULD BE ON THESE AREAS.
AND BY HAVING LARGE
NUMBERS OF WHITES IN HERE
IS THE PRESS,
THE AMERICAN PUBLIC
WOULD HAVE MUCH MORE CONCERN
THAN IF THERE WERE JUS
A BUNCH OF BLACKS
THAT WERE IN THE STATE.
Narrator:
THE FIRST FREEDOM
SUMMER VOLUNTEERS
GATHERED FOR TRAINING
IN OXFORD, OHIO.
Bob Dylan:
IS BLOWIN' IN THE WIND ♪
THE ANSWER IS BLOWIN'
IN THE WIND. ♪
WE'RE GOING DOWN THERE.
WE'RE TRYING TO FACE A REAL
SITUATION THAT WILL OCCUR
NAMELY, THERE'LL BE A MOB
AT THE COURTHOUSE.
AND WE WANT TO GET USED TO THIS,
USED TO PEOPLE JEERING AT US.
WE ALSO WANT THE WHITE STUDENTS
WHO ARE PLAYING THE MOB
TO GET USED TO SAYING THINGS,
CALLING OUT EPITHETS
CALLING PEOPLE "NIGGERS"
AND "NIGGER LOVERS."
(students all shouting )
Forman:
OKAY, THAT WAS VERY GOOD.
(laughter )
SEE, WHAT HAPPENED
OKAY.
THAT WAS VERY GOOD
BECAUSE YOU ALL
GOT CARRIED AWAY, SEE?
I MEAN, YOU WERE
JUST SUPPOSED TO YELL
AND YOU STARTED HITTING US
SO YOU GOT OFF
YOUR FRUSTRATIONS, YOU KNOW.
BUT THAT'S WHAT HAPPENS,
YOU KNOW.
Man:
ISN'T THAT REALLY
THE WAY IT BEGINS?
YEAH, THAT'S WHAT HAPPENS,
YOU KNOW.
PEOPLE BEGIN SHOUTING,
THEN SOMEBODY LURCHES FORWARD
AND THEN EVERYBODY
BEGINS TO LURCH FORWARD.
SO THAT WAS EVEN BETTER
THAN WE HAD ANTICIPATED.
Narrator:
THE STUDENTS WERE
WARNED OF VIOLENCE
AND OF THE POSSIBILITY OF DEATH
ONCE THEY CROSSED THE
MISSISSIPPI STATE LINE.
Man:
PEOPLE SHOULD EXPEC
TO GET BEATEN
Narrator:
THE FIRST WAVE OF RECRUITS,
INCLUDING 20-YEAR-OLD ANDREW
GOODMAN FROM NEW YORK CITY,
LEFT SATURDAY, JUNE 20,
FOR MISSISSIPPI.
GOODMAN RODE WITH VETERAN
CIVIL RIGHTS WORKERS
JAMES CHANEY, AGE 21,
AND MICHAEL SCHWERNER, AGE 24.
SUNDAY, JUNE 21.
ON ANDY GOODMAN'S
FIRST DAY IN MISSISSIPPI,
THE THREE MEN DROVE
TO INVESTIGATE
THE BURNING OF A BLACK
METHODIST CHURCH.
THE CHURCH HAD BEEN THE SCENE
OF A CIVIL RIGHTS MEETING
JUST WEEKS BEFORE.
AROUND 3:00 THAT AFTERNOON,
THEIR 1963 BLUE
FORD STATION WAGON
WAS STOPPED BY DEPUTY
SHERIFF CECIL PRICE
OUTSIDE THE TOWN
OF PHILADELPHIA.
THE THREE YOUNG MEN WERE
RELEASED BY DEPUTY PRICE
AROUND 10:30 THAT NIGHT.
IT WAS THEN THA
THEY DISAPPEARED.
IN OXFORD, OHIO, VOLUNTEERS
WERE WAITING TO TRAVEL SOUTH.
WE HAD TO TELL THE STUDENTS
WHAT WE THOUGHT WAS GOING ON
BECAUSE IF, IN FACT,
ANYONE IS ARRESTED
AND THEN TAKEN OUT OF THE JAIL,
THEN THE CHANCES THAT THEY ARE
ALIVE IS JUST ALMOST ZERO.
AND WE HAD TO CONFRON
THE STUDENTS WITH THA
BEFORE THEY WENT DOWN,
BECAUSE THEY NOW HAD
THE BALL GAME WAS CHANGED.
Group:
DEEP IN MY HEART ♪
I KNOW THAT I DO BELIEVE ♪
OH, WE SHALL OVERCOME ♪
Narrator:
WITHIN DAYS, THE DISAPPEARANCE
WAS NATIONAL NEWS.
A MASSIVE SEARCH WAS ORDERED
BY PRESIDENT LYNDON JOHNSON.
200 SAILORS FROM THE NAVAL
AIR STATION IN MERIDIAN
MOVED INTO THE PHILADELPHIA AREA
AND WERE JOINED
THERE BY F.B.I. AGENTS.
Newscaster:
IN MERIDIAN,
THE WIFE OF MISSING MICKEY
SCHWERNER, RITA SCHWERNER,
FLEW FROM OXFORD,
WHERE SHE'D BEEN TRAINING
MANY OF THE SUMMER VOLUNTEERS.
SHE WAS GREETED BY JAMES
FARMER, HEAD OF CORE,
THE CONGRESS OF RACIAL EQUALITY.
IT'S TRAGIC, AS FAR
AS I AM CONCERNED,
THAT WHITE NORTHERNERS
HAVE TO BE CAUGHT UP
IN THE MACHINERY OF INJUSTICE
AND INDIFFERENCE IN THE SOUTH
BEFORE THE AMERICAN
PEOPLE REGISTER CONCERN.
I PERSONALLY SUSPEC
THAT IF MR. CHANEY,
WHO IS A NATIVE
MISSISSIPPIAN NEGRO,
HAD BEEN ALONE AT THE TIME
OF THE DISAPPEARANCE,
THAT THIS CASE, LIKE SO MANY
OTHERS THAT HAVE COME BEFORE,
WOULD HAVE GONE
COMPLETELY UNNOTICED.
THEIR DISAPPEARANCE,
ALTHOUGH IT MIGH
HAVE BEEN CALCULATED
TO TRY AND DRIVE PEOPLE
AWAY FROM THE STATE,
HAD JUST THE OPPOSITE EFFEC
ON ME AND EVERYONE ELSE.
WHENEVER AN INCIDEN
LIKE THIS HAPPENS
AND THEY HAPPEN FAIRLY OFTEN,
ALTHOUGH USUALLY
NOT THIS SERIOUS
EVERYONE REACTS THE SAME WAY.
THEY BECOME MORE AND MORE
DETERMINED
AND FIGHT THE EVIL SYSTEM THA
PEOPLE HAVE TO LIVE UNDER HERE.
I AM DOWN HERE BECAUSE
I BELIEVE THAT MY FREEDOM
IS VERY MUCH ENTANGLED WITH
THE FREEDOM OF EVERY OTHER MAN
AND THAT IF ANOTHER MAN IS
NOT FREE, THEN I'M NOT FREE.
SO I'M FIGHTING FOR
MY OWN FREEDOM HERE.
Man:
ARE YOU
SCARED?
YES, I'M VERY MUCH AFRAID.
EVERYONE HERE IS.
BUT WE KNEW BEFORE WE CAME DOWN
SOMETHING ABOUT WHA
IT'S GOING TO BE LIKE
AND I DON'T KNOW OF ANYBODY
THAT'S TURNING BACK
BECAUSE OF THINGS LIKE THIS
THAT HAPPEN.
WE MOST CERTAINLY
DO NOT AND WILL NO
GIVE PROTECTION TO
CIVIL RIGHTS WORKERS.
IN THE FIRST PLACE, THE F.B.I.
IS NOT A POLICE ORGANIZATION.
IT'S PURELY AN
INVESTIGATIVE ORGANIZATION.
AND THE PROTECTION
OF INDIVIDUAL CITIZENS,
EITHER NATIVES OF THE STATE
OR COMING INTO THE STATE,
IS A MATTER FOR THE
LOCAL AUTHORITIES.
THE F.B.I. WILL NOT PARTICIPATE
IN ANY SUCH PROTECTION.
Narrator:
BY EARLY JULY, THE VOLUNTEERS
HAD ARRIVED IN FULL FORCE.
DURING THE SUMMER, 80 CIVIL
RIGHTS WORKERS WERE BEATEN
AND 1,000 ARRESTS WERE REPORTED.
ONE OF THE MOST DANGEROUS JOBS
WAS TRAVELING FROM HOUSE
TO HOUSE IN ISOLATED RURAL AREAS
TO BUILD SUPPORT FOR
A NEW POLITICAL PARTY.
WE HAVE ORGANIZED
INTO THE MISSISSIPPI
FREEDOM DEMOCRATIC PARTY.
WE ARE HOLDING A FREEDOM
REGISTRATION DRIVE
THROUGHOUT THE STATE,
ENCOURAGING EVERY NEGRO
AND WHITE
WHO WANTS A STAKE IN
HIS POLITICAL FUTURE
TO PROVE IT BY GETTING HIS NAME
ON A FREEDOM REGISTRATION BOOK.
WE HAVE SCHEDULED PRECINC
MEETINGS AND DISTRICT CAUCUSES,
AND ON AUGUST 6,
HERE IN JACKSON,
WE WILL HOLD OUR
STATE CONVENTION.
AT THAT TIME WE WILL
ELECT A SLATE OF DELEGATES
TO THE NATIONAL CONVENTION
IN ATLANTIC CITY.
AND WHEN THAT CONVENTION MEETS,
WE WILL PRESEN
OURSELVES FOR SEATING
AS THE ONLY DEMOCRATICALLY
CONSTITUTED BODY
OF MISSISSIPPI CITIZENS
WORTHY OF TAKING PART IN
THAT CONVENTION'S BUSINESS.
Narrator:
VOLUNTEERS COLLECTING
SIGNATURES FOR THE PARTY
FOUND THEMSELVES
OPENLY CHALLENGING
THE WAY LIFE HAD BEEN
LIVED IN MISSISSIPPI
FOR THREE QUARTERS OF A CENTURY.
Man:
PEOPLE WOULD BE SITTING DOWN
AND YOU WOULD SAY HELLO
AND YOU'D SHAKE THEIR HANDS.
NOW, THAT WAS AN UNUSUAL THING
FOR A WHITE PERSON TO DO
TO A BLACK PERSON
IN MISSISSIPPI AT THAT TIME.
FREQUENTLY PEOPLE WOULD RESPOND
BY NOT LOOKING US IN THE EYE.
AT THE END OF EVERY PHRASE,
THERE WOULD BE
A "MA'AM" OR A "SIR,"
DEPENDING ON WHO WAS THERE,
AND THEY WOULD SAY YES
TO EVERYTHING WE SAID.
WE'D SAY, "WOULD YOU
LIKE TO BE INVOLVED
"IN THE VOTER
REGISTRATION PROJECT?
WILL YOU GO DOWN TO VOTE?"
"YES, SIR."
AND WE KNEW WE WERE NO
GETTING ACROSS.
WE KNEW THEY WERE JUST WAITING
FOR US TO GO AWAY
BECAUSE WE WERE
A DANGER TO THEM
AND IN MANY WAYS WE WERE.
WE HAD MUCH LESS TO RISK
THAN THEY DID.
THIS WAS THEIR LIVES,
THEIR LAND, THEIR FAMILY
AND THEY WERE GOING TO BE HERE
WHEN WE WERE GONE.
Narrator:
DESPITE THE FEAR,
60,000 SIGNED UP
AS MEMBERS OF THE MISSISSIPPI
FREEDOM DEMOCRATIC PARTY.
THIS MASS POLITICAL AWAKENING
REMINDED SEGREGATIONISTS
OF THE YEARS
FOLLOWING THE CIVIL WAR,
A TIME WHEN BLACKS
HAD BEEN ELECTED
TO HIGH POLITICAL OFFICE.
WE HAVE HAD EXPERIENCE
IN THE PAS
WITH NEGRO POLITICAL DOMINATION.
IT WAS KNOWN
AS THE RECONSTRUCTION.
THERE ARE SOME WHO CALL
THIS PRESENT ATTEMP
TO BUILD UP POLITICAL POWER
THROUGH THE MASS REGISTRATION
OF UNQUALIFIED NEGRO VOTERS
THE SECOND RECONSTRUCTION.
I DON'T WANT THE NEGRO
AS I HAVE KNOWN HIM AND
CONTACTED HIM DURING MY LIFETIME
AS A CLASS
TO CONTROL THE MAKING OF A LAW
THAT CONTROLS ME;
TO CONTROL THE GOVERNMEN
UNDER WHICH I LIVE.
Interviewer:
WOULD YOU FEEL
BETTER, THEN,
IF THERE WERE
SOME LEGAL MEANS
OF KEEPING ALL NEGROES
OFF THE ROLLS?
I'D FEEL BETTER
AND I THINK THIS COUNTRY
WOULD BE BETTER OFF
IF ALL NEGROES WERE
REMOVED FROM I
BECAUSE I THINK IT IS
A POTENTIAL SOURCE
OF RACIAL STRIFE.
Narrator:
WHILE THE SEARCH
FOR THE MISSING CIVIL
RIGHTS WORKERS CONTINUED,
PRESIDENT LYNDON JOHNSON SIGNED
THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964.
THE NEW LAW INCREASED THE
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT'S POWER
TO BAN DISCRIMINATION
IN PUBLIC PLACES,
BUT DID LITTLE TO GIVE
SOUTHERN BLACKS THE VOTE.
IN MISSISSIPPI, THE CIVIL
RIGHTS GROUPS PUSHED FORWARD
WITH THE DRIVE
TO SIGN UP MEMBERS
FOR THE NEW
FREEDOM DEMOCRATIC PARTY.
SUMMER VOLUNTEERS ALSO SUPPLIED
LEGAL AND MEDICAL SERVICES
AND SET UP A SYSTEM OF COMMUNITY
CENTERS AND ALTERNATIVE SCHOOLS,
ALL PART OF FREEDOM SUMMER.
(children singing )
(music playing in background )
Narrator:
FOR YEARS, MOST BLACKS
IN MISSISSIPPI
HAD BEEN DENIED THE RIGH
TO A DECENT EDUCATION.
S.N.C.C. OPENED 41 FREEDOM
SCHOOLS ACROSS THE STATE.
BY DAY, THE VOLUNTEERS
TAUGHT EVERYTHING
FROM THE 3 "R's"
TO INNOVATIVE COURSES
IN BLACK HISTORY.
BY NIGHT, THE SCHOOLS WERE
USED FOR POLITICAL MEETINGS
TO EXPLAIN THE NEW PARTY
AND TO SIGN UP NEW MEMBERS.
THESE ACTIVITIES AND
THE PRESENCE OF WHITE VOLUNTEERS
TEACHING IN BLACK SCHOOLS
AND LIVING IN BLACK HOMES
OFFENDED MANY
WHITE MISSISSIPPIANS.
WHEN THE CIVIL RIGHTS
WORKERS INVADED THE STATE
IN THE SUMMER OF 1964
TO CHANGE US,
PRESUMABLY INTO THEIR OWN IMAGE,
THEY WERE MET WITH A FEELING
OF SOME CURIOSITY
BUT MOSTLY RESENTMENT.
THEY FANNED OU
ACROSS THE STATE,
MADE A GREAT TO-DO
OF BREAKING UP OUR CUSTOMS,
OF FLAUNTING SOCIAL PRACTICES
THAT HAD BEEN RESPECTED
BY PEOPLE HERE OVER THE YEARS.
THAT WAS THE TIME OF
THE HIPPIES JUST COMING IN.
MANY HAD ON HIPPIE UNIFORMS
AND CONDUCTED THEMSELVES
IN HIPPIE WAYS.
THEY WERE NOT EXACTLY
THE TYPES OF MODELS
THAT MOST PEOPLE THA
I KNEW WANTED TO EMULATE.
ALSO, THE ARROGANCE
THAT THEY SHOWED
IN WANTING TO REFORM
A WHOLE STATE
IN THE WAY
THEY THOUGHT IT SHOULD BE
CREATED RESENTMENT.
(dog barking )
Narrator:
BY LATE JULY,
THE THREE YOUNG MEN HAD BEEN
MISSING FOR SIX WEEKS.
MANY LOST HOPE THA
THEY WERE STILL ALIVE,
BUT THE GOALS FOR FREEDOM
SUMMER WERE UNCHANGED.
VOLUNTEERS WANTED TO PROVE
THAT BLACK AND WHITE
COULD LIVE AND WORK TOGETHER.
I REMEMBER COOKING
SOME PINTO BEANS
AND THAT'S ALL WE HAD.
AND EVERYBODY JUS
GOT AROUND THE POT, YOU KNOW,
AND THAT WAS AN EXPERIENCE
YOU KNOW, JUST TO SEE WHITE
PEOPLE COMING AROUND THE PO
AND GETTING A BOWL
AND PUTTING SOME STUFF IN
AND THEN SITTING AROUND TALKING,
AND SITTING ON THE FLOOR,
SITTING ANYWHERE
BECAUSE THERE WASN'T ANY
GREAT DINING ROOM TABLES
AND STUFF THAT WE
HAD BEEN USED TO WORKING
IN THE WHITE PEOPLE'S HOUSES,
AND GO IN THERE
AND FIND THEM ALL SITTING,
YOU KNOW, AND EVERYBODY SITTING
AND THEY'D RING A BELL
OR SOMETHING AND TAP,
AND YOU'D COME IN AND BRING
THE STUFF AND PUT IT AROUND.
BUT THIS YOU WERE
SITTING ON THE FLOOR,
AND THEY WAS TALKING AND,
YOU KNOW,
WE WERE SITTING THERE LAUGHING
AND I GUESS THEY BECAME
VERY REAL AND VERY HUMAN
WE EACH TO ONE ANOTHER.
Narrator:
ON AUGUST 4,
ON A FARM OUTSIDE THE
TOWN OF PHILADELPHIA,
THE BODIES OF GOODMAN,
CHANEY AND SCHWERNER
WERE DISCOVERED BURIED
TOGETHER IN AN EARTHEN DAM.
THE AUTOPSY REPORTS INDICATED
THAT THE MEN HAD BEEN KILLED
BY .38-CALIBER BULLETS.
A LATER REPORT REVEALED
THAT JAMES CHANEY,
THE ONE BLACK VICTIM,
HAD ALSO SUFFERED SEVERE
BONE AND SKULL FRACTURES.
THROUGHOUT OUR HISTORY,
COUNTLESS AMERICANS HAVE DIED
IN THE CONTINUING
STRUGGLE FOR EQUALITY.
WE SHALL CONTINUE
TO WORK FOR THIS GOAL
AND WE FERVENTLY HOPE
THAT AMERICANS SO ENGAGED
WILL BE AIDED AND PROTECTED
IN THIS NOBLE MISSION.
FOR OURSELVES, WE WISH
TO EXPRESS OUR PRIDE
IN OUR SON'S COMMITMEN
AND THAT OF HIS
COMPANIONS NOW DEAD
AND THAT OF HIS COMPANIONS
NOW ALIVE,
NOW IN MISSISSIPPI,
ACTING EACH HOUR
TO EXPRESS THOSE TRUTHS
THAT ARE SELF-EVIDENT.
Narrator:
AUGUST 7, 1964
THE FUNERAL OF JAMES CHANEY
IN MERIDIAN, MISSISSIPPI.
Choir:
THEN THE MISSISSIPPI
RIVER ♪
THEN THE MISSISSIPPI
RIVER ♪
WELL, YOU CAN COUNT THEM
A-ONE BY ONE ♪
IT COULD BE YOUR SON ♪
COUNT THEM A-TWO BY TWO ♪
IT COULD BE ME OR YOU ♪
COUNT THEM A-THREE BY THREE ♪
DO YOU WANT TO SEE? ♪
COUNT THEM A-FOUR BY FOUR ♪
I FEEL THAT HE'S GOT HIS FREEDOM
AND WE ARE STILL
FIGHTING FOR IT.
BUT WHAT I WAN
TO TALK ABOUT RIGHT NOW,
IT'S THE LIVING DEATH THAT WE
HAVE RIGHT AMONG OUR MIDS
NOT ONLY IN THE STATE
OF MISSISSIPPI,
BUT THROUGHOUT THE NATION
THOSE ARE THE PEOPLE
WHO DON'T CARE,
THOSE WHO DO CARE BUT DON'T HAVE
THE GUTS ENOUGH
TO STAND UP FOR IT,
AND THOSE PEOPLE WHO ARE BUSY
UP IN WASHINGTON
AND OTHER PLACES
USING MY FREEDOM AND MY LIFE
TO PLAY POLITICS WITH.
THAT INCLUDES THE PRESIDEN
ON DOWN TO THE GOVERNOR
OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI.
IN MY OPINION,
AS I STAND HERE,
I NOT ONLY BLAME THE PEOPLE
WHO PULLED THE TRIGGER
OR DID THE BEATING
OR DUG THE HOLE WITH THE SHOVEL,
OR BURIED NOT BURIED, SORRY.
BUT I BLAME THE PEOPLE
IN WASHINGTON, D.C.,
AND ON DOWN IN THE STATE OF
MISSISSIPPI FOR WHAT HAPPENED
JUST AS MUCH AS I BLAME THOSE
WHO PULLED THE TRIGGER.
YOU SEE, I KNOW
WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN!
I FEEL IT DEEP IN MY HEART.
WHEN THEY FIND THE PEOPLE
WHO KILLED THOSE GUYS
IN NESHOBA COUNTY,
YOU GOT TO COME BACK TO
THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI
ALL THEIR COUSINS,
THEIR AUNTS, THEIR UNCLES
AND I KNOW WHAT THEY'RE GOING
TO SAY "NOT GUILTY."
'CAUSE NO ONE SAW THEM
PULL THE TRIGGER.
I'M TIRED OF THAT!
SEE, AND ANOTHER THING THA
MAKES ME EVEN TIREDER, THOUGH,
THAT IS THE FAC
THAT WE AS PEOPLE
HERE IN THE STATE
AND THE COUNTRY
ARE ALLOWING THIS TO CONTINUE
TO HAPPEN
EVEN US AS BLACK FOLK.
AS I LOOK
AT THE YOUNG KIDS HERE,
THAT'S SOMETHING ELSE
THAT I GRIEVE ABOUT.
LITTLE BEN CHANEY HERE,
AND THE OTHER ONES LIKE HIM
AROUND IN THIS AUDIENCE.
WHEN HE WANTS SOMEONE
TO BABY-SIT FOR HIM,
HE GETS MY BLACK MAMMY
TO HOLD THAT BABY!
SEE, AS LONG AS HE CAN DO THAT,
HE CAN SIT DOWN BESIDE ME,
HE CAN WATCH ME GO UP THERE
AND REGISTER TO VOTE,
AND HE CAN WATCH ME
TAKE SOME TYPE
OF PUBLIC OFFICE IN THE STATE
AND HE CAN SIT DOWN
AS I RULE OVER HIM
JUST AS HE'S RULED OVER
ME FOR YEARS, YOU SEE.
THIS IS OUR COUNTRY, TOO.
WE DIDN'T ASK TO COME HERE
WHEN THEY BROUGHT US OVER HERE.
I HAD BEEN APPROACHED
BY THE PEOPLE
OF MY NATIONAL OFFICE OF CORE
AND OTHERS
TO MAKE SURE THAT THE SPEECH
THAT'S GIVEN IS CALM.
THEY DON'T WANT A LOT OF, YOU
KNOW, OF THINGS STIRRED UP
AND EVERYTHING ELSE LIKE THAT.
AND I'D AGREED TO DO THAT, AND I
SAID OKAY, FINE, THAT'S GOOD.
BUT THEN WHEN I GOT UP THERE
AND I LOOKED OUT THERE
AND I SAW LITTLE BEN CHANEY,
THINGS JUST SORT OF SNAPPED
AND I WAS IN A FANTASY WORLD
TO BE SITTING UP HERE TALKING
ABOUT THINGS GOING TO GET BETTER
AND WE SHOULD DO I
IN AN EASY MANNER
AND WITH NONVIOLENCE
AND STUFF LIKE THAT.
BECAUSE THIS COUNTRY,
YOU CANNOT MAKE A MAN CHANGE
BY SPEAKING A FOREIGN LANGUAGE.
HE HAS TO UNDERSTAND
WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT.
THIS COUNTRY OPERATES, OPERATED
THEN AND STILL OPERATES,
I MEAN, "EYE FOR AN EYE,
TOOTH FOR A TOOTH."
THAT'S WHAT WE RESPECT.
Narrator:
THE PARENTS OF CHANEY
AND SCHWERNER
WANTED THEIR SONS BURIED
SIDE BY SIDE IN MERIDIAN.
BUT MISSISSIPPI LAW ENFORCED
SEGREGATION EVEN IN DEATH.
JAMES CHANEY, AGE 21,
WAS BURIED ALONE
IN A SEGREGATED CEMETERY.
Preacher:
SORROW AND SADNESS,
THAT WE ARE ALL ONE FAMILY
Narrator:
THE STATE NEVER BROUGH
ANYONE TO TRIAL
FOR THE MURDER
OF THE THREE YOUNG MEN,
BUT IN FEDERAL COURT, DEPUTY
CECIL PRICE AND SIX OTHERS
WERE FOUND GUILTY OF
CIVIL RIGHTS VIOLATIONS
IN CONNECTION WITH THE KILLINGS
AND RECEIVED SENTENCES
RANGING FROM THREE TO TEN YEARS.
AS FREEDOM SUMMER
MOVED TOWARDS AUGUST,
THE STATE'S DEMOCRATIC PARTY ME
TO SELECT DELEGATES TO
THE NATIONAL CONVENTION.
AS USUAL, BLACKS WERE NO
ALLOWED TO PARTICIPATE,
BUT THIS WOULD BE
NO ORDINARY ELECTION YEAR.
TWO WEEKS LATER, THE MISSISSIPPI
FREEDOM DEMOCRATIC PARTY
CHOSE ITS OWN DELEGATES
TO CHALLENGE THE RIGH
OF THE ALL-WHITE REGULARS
TO REPRESENT THE STATE.
THE M.F.D.P. EMPHASIZED THA
IT WAS OPEN TO ALL CITIZENS.
THE MISSISSIPPI FREEDOM
DEMOCRATIC PARTY
IS ONLY BEGINNING,
AND IT IS BEGINNING
ON THE BASIS THAT IT BELIEVES
THAT A POLITICAL PARTY SHOULD
BE OPEN TO ALL THE PEOPLE
WHO WISH TO SUBSCRIBE
TO ITS PRINCIPLES.
THAT MEANS
(applause )
IT'S OPEN TO EVEN THE SON
OF THE PLANTER
ON WHOSE PLANTATION YOU WORK
IF THAT SON
HAS REACHED THE POIN
THAT HE IS WILLING TO
SUBSCRIBE TO YOUR PRINCIPLES.
Narrator:
THE M.F.D.P. DELEGATION OF
64 BLACKS AND FOUR WHITES
PREPARED TO LEAVE
FOR ATLANTIC CITY.
THEIR GOAL WAS TO BE SEATED
AT THE DEMOCRATIC
NATIONAL CONVENTION
AS THE TRUE REPRESENTATIVES
OF THEIR HOME STATE.
FOR MANY, IT WAS THEIR FIRS
TRIP OUT OF MISSISSIPPI.
FOR ALL, THIS WAS THE
CULMINATION OF FREEDOM SUMMER,
THE FINAL OPPORTUNITY TO OPEN UP
MISSISSIPPI TO THE NATION.
YOU KNOW, I THINK ONE OF THE
THINGS THAT MADE THE DELEGATION
OF THE MISSISSIPPI
FREEDOM DEMOCRATIC PARTY
SO HOPEFUL, YOU KNOW,
SO EXPECTAN
WAS THE FACT THAT PEOPLE
HAD MADE A DISCOVERY
THAT THERE IS A WAY OUT OF MUCH
THAT IS WRONG WITH OUR LIVES
AND THAT THERE IS
A WAY TO CHANGE I
AND THAT IS THROUGH
THE EXECUTION OF THIS VOTE,
YOU KNOW.
AND SO WE CAN'T GET PAST THESE
PEOPLE AT THE STATE LEVEL
BECAUSE THEY'VE LOCKED US OUT,
BUT WE JUST KNOW THAT ONCE
WE GET TO THE NATIONAL LEVEL,
WITH ALL THE PROOF
THAT WE HAVE BEEN LOCKED OU
AND THE FACT THA
WE'VE HAD THE COURAGE
TO GO AHEAD AND CREATE
OUR OWN PARTY,
THEN WE FEEL LIKE WE ARE GOING
TO GET THAT REPRESENTATION
THAT WE'VE BEEN
DENIED FOR SO LONG.
Narrator:
ATLANTIC CITY, NEW JERSEY,
SITE OF THE 1964
DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION.
LYNDON JOHNSON
EXPECTED NO OPPOSITION
IN GETTING HIS
PARTY'S NOMINATION,
BUT WAS CONCERNED THE M.F.D.P.
WOULD DISRUPT PARTY UNITY.
WITH THE ARRIVAL OF THE FREEDOM
DEMOCRATS ON AUGUST 20,
THERE WERE NOW TWO DELEGATIONS
IN TOWN FROM MISSISSIPPI.
THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY
WOULD HAVE TO DECIDE
WHICH WOULD REPRESENT THE STATE
ON THE CONVENTION FLOOR.
THAT DECISION WOULD BE MADE
BY THE CREDENTIALS COMMITTEE.
ON SATURDAY, AUGUST 22,
AMERICA WATCHED THIS
NATIONALLY TELEVISED HEARING.
IT IS THE VERY TERROR THA
THESE PEOPLE ARE LIVING THROUGH
THAT IS THE REASON
THAT NEGROES AREN'T VOTING,
THAT THEY'RE KEPT OU
OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY
BY THE TERROR OF
THE REGULAR PARTY,
AND WHAT I WANT THE CREDENTIALS
COMMITTEE TO HEAR
IS THE TERROR
WHICH THE REGULAR PARTY USES
ON THE PEOPLE OF MISSISSIPPI,
WHICH IS WHAT REVEREND
KING WAS EXPLAINING,
WHICH IS WHAT AARON HENRY
WAS EXPLAINING
AND WHICH IS WHAT THE NEX
WITNESS WILL EXPLAIN
MRS. FANNIE LOU HAMER.
MR. CHAIRMAN,
AND TO THE CREDENTIALS
COMMITTEE,
MY NAME IS
MRS. FANNIE LOU HAMER
AND I LIVE
AT 626 EAST LAFAYETTE STREET,
RULEVILLE, MISSISSIPPI,
SUNFLOWER COUNTY,
THE HOME OF SENATOR
JAMES O. EASTLAND
AND SENATOR STENNIS.
IF THE FREEDOM DEMOCRATIC PARTY
IS NOT SEATED NOW,
I QUESTION AMERICA.
IS THIS AMERICA?
THE LAND OF THE FREE
AND THE HOME OF THE BRAVE?
WHERE WE HAVE TO SLEEP WITH
OUR TELEPHONES OFF OF THE HOOK
BECAUSE OUR LIVES
BE THREATENED DAILY
BECAUSE WE WANT TO LIVE AS
DECENT HUMAN BEINGS IN AMERICA.
WE WILL RETURN TO THIS SCENE
IN ATLANTIC CITY,
BUT NOW WE SWITCH TO THE WHITE
HOUSE AND NBC'S ROBERT GORALSKI.
Narrator:
LYNDON JOHNSON CUT OFF
COVERAGE OF M.F.D.P. TESTIMONY
BY MAKING A LAST-MINUTE REQUES
FOR NETWORK AIR TIME.
WE HAD AN HOUR BEFORE
THE CREDENTIALS COMMITTEE.
FANNIE LOU HAMER
MADE HER FAMOUS PITCH,
MARTIN LUTHER KING
WE HAD THE GREATEST ARRAY
OF PEOPLE
YOU HAVE EVER CAN IMAGINE,
AND THE CREDENTIALS COMMITTEE
WAS VERY IMPRESSED.
BUT JOHNSON WAS NOT.
Narrator:
DESPITE THE TV CUT-OFF
BY THE PRESIDENT,
MRS. HAMER'S MESSAGE
HAD GOTTEN THROUGH.
VIEWERS BACK HOME SENT TELEGRAMS
TO DELEGATES
URGING SUPPORT OF THE M.F.D.P.
BUT PRESIDENT JOHNSON WAS AFRAID
SOUTHERNERS WOULD
DESERT THE PARTY
IF THE M.F.D.P. WERE SEATED.
HE BEGAN PRESSURING LIBERALS
CLOSE TO THE FREEDOM DEMOCRATS.
SENATOR HUBERT HUMPHREY,
A LONG-TIME CHAMPION
OF CIVIL RIGHTS,
WAS FEELING THAT PRESSURE.
MANY BELIEVED HE WOULD NOT BE
SELECTED FOR THE VICE-PRESIDENCY
UNLESS HE HELPED
STOP THE M.F.D.P.
MY ONLY INTEREST IN THIS IS AN
ATTEMPT TO TRY TO BRING ABOU
A RECONCILIATION OF VIEWS
IN THE HOPES TO KEEP
OUR CONVENTION UNITED
WITH ONE OBJECTIVE: TO DEFEA
MR. GOLDWATER IN NOVEMBER
AND TO CARRY FORWARD
THE DEMOCRATIC PROGRAM.
Narrator:
HUMPHREY ASSIGNED
WALTER MONDALE,
HIS YOUNG PROTEGE
FROM MINNESOTA,
TO WORK OUT A SOLUTION.
SEE, EVERYBODY WAS TRYING
TO THINK OF SOMETHING
THAT WAS SIMPLE
THAT WOULD SOLVE I
AND WOULD SATISFY EVERYBODY.
THE PROBLEM WAS, THERE WAS
NO SUCH SOLUTION.
AND SO WE'D GO AROUND
AND AROUND AND AROUND,
AND EVERYBODY'D TRY THIS
AND TRY THAT.
AND WRITERS WOULD SEE IF THEY
COULD WRITE AROUND THE PROBLEMS,
AND PHILOSOPHERS WOULD SEE IF
THEY COULD DREAM OF SOMETHING
TO DREAM OVER THE PROBLEM.
IT NEVER IT WOULDN'T GO AWAY.
IT HAD TO BE RESOLVED.
IT HAD TO BE COMPROMISED, I
THINK, IN THE WAY THAT WE DID I
AND IT WAS INEVITABLE THA
SOME PEOPLE WOULD BE UNHAPPY.
Narrator:
THE COMMITTEE DID
COME UP WITH A COMPROMISE.
IT OFFERED THE M.F.D.P.
TWO SEATS AT LARGE,
MEANING THEY WOULD NOT REPRESEN
THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI.
IT ALLOWED THE ALL-WHITE
REGULARS TO BE SEATED
ONLY IF THEY WOULD SWEAR LOYALTY
TO THE DEMOCRATIC TICKET.
FINALLY, THE COMMITTEE PROMISED
TO BAR FROM FUTURE CONVENTIONS
ANY DELEGATION
GUILTY OF DISCRIMINATION.
IN RESPONSE, ALL BUT FOUR
OF THE ALL-WHITE REGULARS
WALKED OUT OF THE CONVENTION.
IT MAY NOT SATISFY EVERYBODY
THE EXTREMES ON THE RIGH
OR THE EXTREMES ON THE LEFT
BUT WE THINK IT IS
A JUST COMPROMISE.
WE THINK IT IS BASED
SOUNDLY ON THE LAW.
WE THINK IT CLEARLY RECOGNIZES,
WITHOUT COMPROMISES,
THE BASIC DEVOTION OF THIS PARTY
TO HUMAN RIGHTS,
AND WE THINK IT REPRESENTS
AND SETS THE STAGE
FOR THE OVERWHELMING VICTORY
OF THE MAN WHO, MORE THAN
ANYBODY ELSE IN THE WORLD,
REPRESENTS THE CAUSE OF
JUSTICE AND LAW TODAY
PRESIDENT LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON.
Narrator:
LYNDON JOHNSON ANNOUNCED
THAT HUBERT HUMPHREY WOULD BE
HIS RUNNING MATE
BEFORE BOARDING THE PLANE
FOR THE CONVENTION.
IN ATLANTIC CITY,
THE FREEDOM DEMOCRATS
HAD NOT YET DECIDED WHETHER TO
ACCEPT OR REJECT THE COMPROMISE.
WE'VE GOT AN OFFER
TO OUR PEOPLE.
WE'VE GO
A GREAT DEAL OUT OF THIS.
I THINK TO CALL THIS A LOSS
IS A BAD MISTAKE.
Reporter:
YOU WERE TALKING
BEFORE OF NO COMPROMISE.
NOW YOU'VE GO
YOUR TWO DELEGATES IN.
THE REGULAR
PARTY'S GOT THREE.
DO YOU THINK YOU'VE
MADE SUBSTANTIAL GAINS?
I THINK WE'VE MADE
A TERRIFIC GAIN.
YOU ALWAYS TALK "NO COMPROMISE"
IN A CONVENTION
UNTIL YOU GET THE BEST YOU CAN.
THEN YOU QUIT.
ARE THE LEADERS
OF THE FREEDOM
DEMOCRATS SATISFIED?
I DON'T THINK SO,
AND I DON'T BLAME THEM.
NOBODY EVER GETS ALL THEY WANT.
THE LEADERS OF THE REGULARS
AREN'T SATISFIED EITHER.
THEY'RE GOING BACK TO JACKSON.
LET MY PEOPLE GO ♪
Narrator:
POLITICAL ALLIES AND
NATIONAL CIVIL RIGHTS LEADERS
URGED THE M.F.D.P. TO
ACCEPT THE COMPROMISE,
BUT THE FREEDOM DEMOCRATS VOTED
OVERWHELMINGLY TO TURN IT DOWN.
IN THE WORDS
OF FANNIE LOU HAMER,
"WE DIDN'T COME ALL THIS WAY
FOR NO TWO SEATS
WHEN ALL OF US IS TIRED."
GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN ♪
TO LET MY PEOPLE GO ♪
WHO'S THAT YONDER
DRESSED IN WHITE? ♪
LET MY PEOPLE GO ♪
LOOKS LIKE THE CHILDREN
OF THE ISRAELITES ♪
OH, LET MY PEOPLE GO ♪
GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN ♪
OVER THE HILLS
AND EVERYWHERE ♪
GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN ♪
TO LET MY PEOPLE GO. ♪
I THINK PEOPLE FEL
THAT THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY
WOULD ACTUALLY EMBRACE THEM.
I THINK THERE WAS A LACK
OF REAL UNDERSTANDING
OF THE DEPTH TO WHICH
THE LOCAL SOUTHERN POLITICIANS
WERE ENTWINED
IN THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY
AND THAT THERE WOULD BE
A REAL RELUCTANCE
ON THE PART OF THE NATIONAL
DEMOCRATIC PARTY LEADERSHIP
TO TAKE IN BLACK PEOPLE
AT THE EXPENSE OF THESE
SOUTHERN POLITICIANS.
THE WHOLE ISSUE AROUND THE
COMPROMISE, FOR US AND FOR ME,
WAS THAT IT WAS SOME
KIND OF POLITICAL PLOY
THAT THEY UNDERSTOOD.
BUT FOR US, FOR MISSISSIPPI,
IT WAS WHAT WAS RIGH
AND WHAT WAS WRONG.
IT WAS, UM
WE HAD BEEN DONE WRONG.
OUR RIGHTS HAD BEEN TAKEN AWAY
AND YOU JUST COULDN'T ISSUE
SOME TWO SEATS AT LARGE
TO CORRECT THAT.
AND IT WAS A MORAL SITUATION
THAT HAD TO BE RIGHTED.
SO IT WASN'T JUST A POLITICAL
SOMETHING TO GET AWAY WITH
THAT WE SIT IN THE ROOMS
AND NEGOTIATE.
YOU KNOW, THEY KNEW
ABOUT THOSE KIND OF THINGS,
BUT WE DIDN'T
HOW TO SIT IN ROOMS
AND NEGOTIATE A WAY
AND SAY, "WE'LL TAKE THE BES
OF THIS, A PIECE OF THAT."
WE WENT AFTER WHAT WAS RIGH
AND IT WAS WRONG THE WAY
WE HAD BEEN TREATED
FOR HUNDREDS AND
HUNDREDS OF YEARS
DENIED THE RIGH
TO REGISTER TO VOTE,
DENIED THE RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE
IN THE POLITICAL PROCESS
AND THAT'S WHAT WAS GOING ON.
Narrator:
THE M.F.D.P. DELEGATES MADE
ONE LAST APPEAL
FOR NATIONAL ATTENTION.
THEY TRIED TO SIT IN THE SEATS
ABANDONED BY THE
MISSISSIPPI REGULARS.
Reporter:
WOULD YOU IDENTIFY
YOURSELF FOR US, PLEASE?
MY NAME IS
MRS. FANNIE LOU HAMER.
I'M THE VICE-CHAIRMAN OF
THE FREEDOM DEMOCRAT PARTY.
WHERE DID YOU GE
THE CREDENTIALS
TO GET INTO THE BUILDING
TONIGHT, MRS. HAMER?
SOME LOYAL FRIENDS OF OURS GAVE
US AN INVITATION TO COME IN.
WE SAT WITH THEM A WHILE
AND WE WANTED TO SI
IN OUR OWN STATE.
DO YOU HAVE
ANY KIND OF CREDENTIALS
THAT WILL GET YOU
INTO THESE SEATS?
NO, WE DON'T
ONLY AS AMERICAN CITIZENS.
Reporter:
MR. SERGEANT-AT-ARMS:
HAVE YOU HAD
ANY CONTINGENCY
PLANS FOR THIS?
NONE AT ALL.
I JUST STAND HERE PEACEFULLY,
TRYING TO KEEP THIS AISLE CLEAR.
THAT'S THE SAME
AS THEY DO DOWN
IN MISSISSIPPI.
WHEN THEY'RE
BEFORE THE EYES
OF THE WORLD,
THEY'RE PEACEFUL
AND LOVING,
AND WHEN THEY GE
BACK TO MISSISSIPPI,
IT'S "NIGGER,
YOU CAN'T COME IN HERE!"
"NIGGER, YOU CAN'
COME IN THERE!"
"NIGGER, YOU GET OUT!"
AND HERE WE ARE
IN THE EYES OF THE WORLD,
SEEING THE SAME
THING THAT HAPPENS
DOWN, WAY DOWN
IN THE DEEP SOUTH,
MISSISSIPPI.
Narrator:
THE M.F.D.P. WAS NEVER SEATED
AT THE 1964 CONVENTION,
BUT THEIR PROTEST OPENED UP
THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY
AND CHANGED NATIONAL POLITICS.
FOR SOME, ATLANTIC CITY
ENDED IN DISILLUSIONMENT.
THEY HAD LOST FAITH
IN AMERICA'S LEADERS,
BUT THEY HAD COME TO KNOW
THEIR OWN POWER.
THE COUNTRY
REFUSES TO DEMAND
THAT MISSISSIPPI GIVE
NEGROES THEIR RIGHTS,
THEIR PRIVILEGES.
WE DIDN'T ASK
TO BE ELECTED
TO ANYTHING.
WE DIDN'T ASK
FOR ANY PATRONAGE.
ALL WE ASKED FOR
IS TO LET US SIT.
THIS IS A SPECIAL PRESENTATION
OF AMERICAN EXPERIENCE.
MAJOR FUNDING FOR AMERICAN
EXPERIENCE WITH CAPTIONING
IS PROVIDED BY THE
ALFRED P. SLOAN FOUNDATION.
NATIONAL CORPORATE FUNDING
IS PROVIDED BY LIBERTY MUTUAL
AND THE SCOTTS COMPANY.
AMERICAN EXPERIENCE
IS ALSO MADE POSSIBLE
BY THE CORPORATION
FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING
AND BY:
FUNDING FOR THE RE-RELEASE
OF EYES ON THE PRIZE
MADE POSSIBLE BY:
AND:
THERE IS NO STATE
WITH A RECORD THAT APPROACHES
THAT OF MISSISSIPPI
IN INHUMANITY, MURDER,
BRUTALITY AND RACIAL HATRED.
IT IS ABSOLUTELY A
THE BOTTOM OF THE LIST.
Narrator:
IN 1964, THE STATE
OF MISSISSIPPI
CALL IT AN INVASION.
CIVIL RIGHTS WORKERS
CALLED IT "FREEDOM SUMMER."
TO CHANGE MISSISSIPPI
AND THE COUNTRY,
THEY WOULD RISK BEATINGS,
ARRESTS AND THEIR LIVES.
Woman:
Y'ALL KNOW WHA
MY CHILD HAS DONE.
HE WAS TRYING FOR US ALL
TO MAKE A BETTER LIVING.
AND HE HAD TWO FELLAS
FROM NEW YORK
HAD THEIR OWN HOME
AND EVERYTHING.
DIDN'T HAVE NOTHING
TO WORRY ABOUT.
BUT THEY COME HERE TO HELP US.
DID Y'ALL KNOW THEY
COME HERE TO HELP US?
THEY DIED FOR US!
I KNOW THE ONE
THING WE DID RIGHT ♪
WAS THE DAY WE
STARTED TO FIGHT ♪
KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE PRIZE ♪
HOLD ON, HOLD ON ♪
KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE PRIZE ♪
HOLD ON. ♪
PEOPLE LIKE MYSELF
I WAS BORN ON THIS RIVER.
I LOVE THE LAND.
IT'S THE DELTA.
AND TO ME, IT'S NOW A
CHALLENGE, IT'S HISTORY;
IT'S EVERYTHING OF WHA
BLACK PEOPLE IS ALL ABOUT.
WE CAME UP OUT OF SLAVERY
AND THIS IS WHERE WE ACTED
IT OUT, I SUPPOSE
ALL OF THE WORK, ALL THE
HARD WORK, AND ALL THAT.
BUT WE PUT IN OUR
BLOOD, SWEAT AND TEARS
AND WE LOVE THE LAND.
THIS IS MISSISSIPPI.
Man:
I'VE LIVED IN THIS
DELTA ALL MY LIFE.
MY PARENTS BEFORE ME,
AND MY GRANDPARENTS.
I'VE HUNTED AND FISHED
THIS LAND SINCE I WAS A CHILD.
THIS LAND IS COMPOSED OF
TWO DIFFERENT CULTURES,
A WHITE CULTURE
AND A COLORED CULTURE,
AND I'VE LIVED CLOSE
TO THEM ALL MY LIFE.
BUT I'M TOLD NOW THA
WE'VE MISTREATED THEM
AND THAT WE MUST CHANGE
AND THESE CHANGES ARE COMING
FASTER THAN I EXPECTED.
AND I AM REQUIRED
TO MAKE DECISIONS
ON A BASIS OF A NEW
WAY OF THINKING
AND IT'S DIFFICULT.
IT'S DIFFICULT FOR ME.
IT'S DIFFICULT FOR
ALL SOUTHERNERS.
I WAS BORN IN MISSISSIPPI,
IN THE UNITED STATES,
AND I AM THE PRODUCT OF
MY HEREDITY AND EDUCATION
AND THE SOCIETY
IN WHICH I WAS RAISED.
AND I HAVE A VESTED
INTEREST IN THAT SOCIETY
AND I, ALONG WITH A MILLION
OTHER WHITE MISSISSIPPIANS,
WILL DO EVERYTHING
IN OUR POWER
TO PROTECT THAT VESTED INTEREST.
IT'S JUST AS SIMPLE AS THAT.
Narrator:
IN 1954, THE CITIZENS' COUNCIL
WAS ESTABLISHED IN THE DELTA,
THE NORTHWEST SECTION
OF THE STATE,
WHERE BLACKS OUTNUMBERED WHITES.
THE COUNCIL'S PURPOSE:
TO PRESERVE WHITE
POLITICAL POWER
BY OPPOSING INTEGRATION.
COUNCIL CHAPTERS SOON
SPREAD ACROSS THE STATE.
WITHIN FOUR YEARS,
THE CITIZENS' COUNCIL
WAS POWERFUL ENOUGH
THAT IN THE ELECTION OF 1959,
IT THREW ITS SUPPOR
OPENLY AND ACTIVELY
BEHIND THE CANDIDACY
OF A DAMAGE SUIT LAWYER
NAMED ROSS BARNETT,
NOT ONE OF THE WORLD'S MOS
SUCCESSFUL POLITICIANS
UP TO THEN,
AND SAW HIM ELECTED
OVER A SUPPOSED MODERATE
WHO WAS HIMSELF
A SEGREGATIONIST,
BUT WITH A QUIETER VOICE
THAN ROSS BARNETT.
AND FROM 1959 UNTIL 1963,
IN THE BARNETT ADMINISTRATION,
THE CITIZENS' COUNCIL
WAS THE STATE
AND THE STATE EFFECTIVELY,
ON MATTERS RACIAL,
WAS THE CITIZENS' COUNCIL.
Narrator:
BANKERS, POLITICIANS
AND OWNERS OF BUSINESSES
JOINED THE CITIZENS' COUNCILS
THROUGHOUT THE SOUTH.
THEY PUNISHED PEOPLE WHO
SUPPORTED INTEGRATION
OR BLACK VOTING RIGHTS
BY FORECLOSING MORTGAGES,
FIRING WORKERS
OR REFUSING LOANS TO FARMERS.
AND THEY USED THEIR INFLUENCE
TO PUSH THROUGH LAWS
THAT WOULD ENSURE CONTINUED
WHITE DOMINATION.
IT'S PRIMARILY
A STRUGGLE FOR POWER.
AND I THINK WE WOULD
BE STUPID INDEED
IF WE FAILED TO SEE
WHERE THE CONSEQUENCES
OF A SUPINE SURRENDER
ON OUR PART WOULD LEAD.
Narrator:
AT THE CENTER OF MISSISSIPPI'S
STRUGGLE FOR POWER
WAS THE BLACK VOTE.
IN SOME COUNTIES, BLACKS
OUTNUMBERED WHITES FOUR TO ONE.
IN 1962, IN MANY COUNTIES,
NO BLACKS WERE REGISTERED.
THERE'S A BIG PSYCHOLOGICAL
GAP TO OVERCOME.
THERE'S WHAT A LOT OF PEOPLE
CALL A "PSYCHOLOGY OF FEAR"
ON THE PART OF
MOST OF THE NEGROES.
THEY'RE AFRAID OF
LOSING THEIR JOBS.
THEY'VE BEEN BRAINWASHED.
THEY THINK THAT SOMEHOW
ALL OF THIS IS THE BUSINESS
OF THE WHITE MAN
AND THAT IT'S NOT SOMETHING THA
THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO BE DOING.
Narrator:
26-YEAR-OLD BOB MOSES
CAME TO MISSISSIPPI
AT THE REQUEST OF AMZIE
MOORE, AN N.A.A.C.P. LEADER.
MOSES AND OTHER S.N.C.C.
ORGANIZERS OPENED OFFICES
THROUGHOUT THE STATE TO RECRUI
LOCAL MISSISSIPPIANS.
I WAS ASKED
WOULD I JOIN THE S.N.C.C.,
WHICH WAS STUDENT NONVIOLEN
COORDINATING COMMITTEE,
AND I SAID, "YES."
WELL, WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO?"
THEY SAID, "JUST TRY
TO ENCOURAGE PEOPLE
TO GO AND TRY TO REGISTER,
GO OVER TO THE COURTHOUSE."
AND THAT WAS MY STAR
OF GOING ROUND HERE
TO MY NEIGHBORS AND FRIENDS
AND ASKING THEM, YOU KNOW,
WOULD THEY COME AND GO
TO THE COURTHOUSE
AND TRY TO REGISTER TO VOTE.
PEOPLE WERE BEING PU
OFF THE PLANTATIONS;
PEOPLE WERE THREATENED;
FOLKS WAS PUT IN JAIL
JUST BECAUSE WE WANTED PEOPLE
TO TRY TO REGISTER TO VOTE.
Narrator:
SOME ATTEMPTING TO REGISTER
HAD EVEN BEEN MURDERED
TO STOP BLACK POLITICAL ACTIVITY
AND THE STATE PASSED
NEW VOTING LAWS
TO MAKE REGISTRATION
MORE DIFFICULT.
ON THIS SIDE.
AND RIGHT HERE
YOU INTERPRET;
IN OTHER WORDS,
YOU TELL WHAT IT MEANS.
JUST WRITE YOUR MEANING,
YOUR UNDERSTANDING
OF IT.
REGISTERING TO VOTE
AT THAT TIME MEAN
THAT YOU FILLED OU
A 22-QUESTION QUESTIONNAIRE.
ONE OF THE QUESTIONS WAS:
"INTERPRET ANY OF
THE 286 SECTIONS
"OF THE MISSISSIPPI CONSTITUTION
TO THE SATISFACTION
OF THE REGISTRAR."
THAT SOME OF THOSE REGISTRARS
COULDN'T READ OR WRITE.
BUT THAT DIDN'T MATTER.
THEY COULD STILL DETERMINE
WHO SHOULD BE REGISTERED
IF THAT PERSON
HAPPENED TO BE BLACK,
BECAUSE ALL WHITES WHO ATTEMPTED
TO REGISTER WERE REGISTERED.
Narrator:
AS THE STRUGGLE
FOR VOTING RIGHTS
ESCALATED IN THE DELTA,
TENSION WAS BUILDING IN
JACKSON, THE STATE CAPITAL
AND THE LAST STOP
OF THE FREEDOM RIDES IN 1961.
A LEADER IN JACKSON
AND THROUGHOUT THE STATE
WAS MEDGAR EVERS, N.A.A.C.P.
STATE FIELD SECRETARY.
EVERS HAD SUPPORTED JAMES
MEREDITH DURING THE BATTLE
TO INTEGRATE THE
UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI.
FOR TEN YEARS,
HE HAD TRAVELED THE STATE,
FIGHTING FOR RACIAL JUSTICE,
AND NOW HELPED ORGANIZE
THE N.A.A.C.P. BOYCOT
OF DOWNTOWN STORES.
DON'T SHOP FOR ANYTHING
ON CAPITOL STREET.
LET'S LET THE MERCHANTS
DOWN ON CAPITOL STREE
FEEL THE ECONOMIC PINCH.
LET ME SAY THIS TO YOU:
I HAD ONE MERCHANT CALL ME
AND HE SAID, "I WANT YOU TO KNOW
"THAT I TALKED TO MY
NATIONAL OFFICE TODAY
"AND THEY WANT ME TO TELL YOU
THAT WE DON'T NEED
NIGGER BUSINESS."
THESE ARE STORES THAT HELP
TO SUPPOR
THE WHITE CITIZENS' COUNCIL,
THE COUNCIL THAT IS DEDICATED
TO KEEPING YOU AND I
SECOND-CLASS CITIZENS.
NOW, FINALLY,
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,
WE'LL BE DEMONSTRATING HERE
UNTIL FREEDOM COMES TO NEGROES
HERE IN JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI.
Narrator:
IN JUNE 1963,
STUDENTS IN JACKSON POURED
OUT OF THEIR SCHOOLS
TO PROTEST THE BEATINGS
AND ARREST OF DEMONSTRATORS
IN DOWNTOWN SIT-INS.
IN RESPONSE, JACKSON OFFICIALS
PUT POLICE AND FIREMEN
ON 24-HOUR ALERT,
WITH ORDERS TO CONTAIN
THE DEMONSTRATORS.
HALT.
HALT!
DID YOU HEAR ME?
(people shouting )
WE SHALL NOT,
WE SHALL NOT BE MOVED ♪
WE SHALL NOT, WE SHALL
NOT BE MOVED ♪
Narrator:
HUNDREDS WERE ARRESTED.
MAYOR ALAN THOMPSON ANNOUNCED
THAT JACKSON COULD HANDLE
10,000 IF NECESSARY.
THE ATTITUDE OF
JACKSON CITY OFFICIALS
THAT BLACKS IN MISSISSIPPI
WOULD HAVE NO REAL POWER
UNTIL THEY HAD THE POWER TO
ELECT THOSE WHO GOVERNED THEM.
(chanting):
FREEDOM! FREEDOM! FREEDOM!
IF YOU ARE NO
A REGISTERED VOTER,
REMEMBER THIS ONE THING;
THAT ALAN THOMPSON GO
IN THE MAYOR'S OFFICE
BY THE MAJORITY OF THE FOLK
WHO WERE QUALIFIED TO VOTE
AND VOTED ON THE DAY
THAT HE WAS ELECTED.
ROSS BARNETT GOT IN OFFICE
BECAUSE HE WAS ELECTED
BY THE MAJORITY OF THE FOLK
WHO WERE QUALIFIED TO VOTE
AND VOTED ON THE DAY
THAT HE WAS ELECTED,
AND IF YOU DON'
LIKE THIS THING,
LET'S GET READY TO CHANGE IT!
(cheering and applause )
Narrator:
DEMONSTRATORS WERE
NOT BACKING DOWN
AND MANY WERE BEING INJURED.
FOR MEDGAR EVERS,
THE SITUATION GREW
MORE DANGEROUS
WITH EVERY PASSING DAY.
IT WAS SIMPLY IN THE AIR.
YOU KNEW THAT SOMETHING
WAS GOING TO HAPPEN
AND THE LOGICAL PERSON FOR
IT TO HAPPEN TO WAS MEDGAR.
IT CERTAINLY BROUGHT US CLOSER
DURING THAT TIME.
AS A MATTER OF FACT, WE DIDN'
TALK; WE DIDN'T HAVE TO.
WE COMMUNICATED WITHOUT WORDS.
IT WAS A TOUCH, IT WAS A LOOK,
IT WAS HOLDING EACH OTHER,
IT WAS MUSIC PLAYING.
AND I USED TO TRY TO REASSURE
HIM AND TELL HIM,
"NOTHING'S GOING
TO HAPPEN TO YOU.
THE F.B.I. IS HERE" LAUGH
UM, "EVERYBODY KNOWS YOU,
YOU'RE IN THE PRESS.
THEY WOULDN'T DARE
DO ANYTHING TO YOU."
Narrator:
ON JUNE 11, 1963, MYRLIE
EVERS WATCHED AT HOME
AS PRESIDENT JOHN KENNEDY MADE
HIS STRONGEST SPEECH
ON CIVIL RIGHTS.
IT IS NOT ENOUGH
TO PIN THE BLAME ON OTHERS,
TO SAY THIS IS A PROBLEM
OF ONE SECTION OF THE COUNTRY
OR ANOTHER,
OR DEPLORE THE FACTS
THAT WE FACE.
A GREAT CHANGE IS AT HAND
AND OUR TASK, OUR OBLIGATION
IS TO MAKE THA
REVOLUTION, THAT CHANGE
PEACEFUL AND
CONSTRUCTIVE FOR ALL.
THOSE WHO DO NOTHING
ARE INVITING SHAME,
AS WELL AS VIOLENCE.
THOSE WHO ACT BOLDLY
ARE RECOGNIZING RIGH
AS WELL AS REALITY.
LATE THAT NIGHT, HE CAME HOME.
THE CHILDREN WERE STILL UP,
I WAS ASLEEP ACROSS THE BED
AND WE HEARD THE MOTOR
OF THE CAR COMING IN
AND PULLING INTO THE DRIVEWAY.
WE HEARD HIM GET OUT OF THE
CAR AND THE CAR DOOR SLAM,
AND IN THAT SAME INSTANCE,
WE HEARD THE LOUD GUNFIRE.
THE CHILDREN FELL TO THE FLOOR,
AS HE HAD TAUGHT THEM TO DO.
I MADE A RUN FOR THE FRONT DOOR,
TURNED ON THE LIGH
AND THERE HE WAS.
THE FORCE OF THE BULLE
HAD PUSHED HIM FORWARD,
AS I UNDERSTAND,
AND THE STRONG MAN THAT HE WAS,
HE HAD HIS KEYS IN HIS HAND
AND HAD PULLED HIS BODY AROUND
THE REST OF THE WAY TO THE DOOR.
UM THERE HE LAY.
AND I SCREAMED,
AND PEOPLE CAME OUT.
OUR NEXT-DOOR NEIGHBOR
FIRED A GUN,
AS HE SAID, TO TRY
TO FRIGHTEN ANYONE AWAY.
AND I KNEW THEN THAT
THAT WAS IT.
(siren wailing )
Narrator:
MEDGAR EVERS HAD
BEEN SHOT IN THE BACK
BY A SINGLE ROUND FROM
A HIGH-POWERED RIFLE.
THE ONE FINGERPRIN
FOUND ON THE WEAPON
BELONGED
TO BYRON DE LA BECKWITH,
A MEMBER OF THE
CITIZENS' COUNCIL
IN GREENWOOD, MISSISSIPPI.
MEDGAR EVERS, 37 YEARS OLD,
DIED ONE HOUR LATER.
WHEN MEDGAR WAS
FELLED BY THAT SHO
AND I RUSHED OU
AND SAW HIM LYING THERE
AND PEOPLE FROM THE
NEIGHBORHOOD BEGAN TO GATHER,
THERE WERE ALSO SOME WHOSE COLOR
HAPPENED TO HAVE BEEN WHITE.
I DON'T THINK I HAVE EVER
HATED AS MUCH IN MY LIFE
AS I DID AT THA
PARTICULAR MOMEN
WITH ANYONE WHO HAD WHITE SKIN.
I SCREAMED AT THE NEIGHBORS
AND WHEN THE POLICE
FINALLY GOT THERE,
I TOLD THEM THA
THEY HAD KILLED MEDGAR.
AND I CAN RECALL
WANTING SO MUCH
TO HAVE A MACHINE GUN
OR SOMETHING IN MY HANDS
AND JUST STAND THERE
AND MOW THEM ALL DOWN.
I WAS JUST
I CAN'T EXPLAIN THE DEPTH
OF MY HATRED AT THAT POINT.
WE VIEW THIS AS A COLD, BRUTAL,
DELIBERATE KILLING
IN A SAVAGE, UNCIVILIZED STATE
THE MOST SAVAGE,
THE MOST UNCIVILIZED STATE
IN THE ENTIRE 50 STATES.
THERE IS NO STATE
WITH A RECORD THAT APPROACHES
THAT OF MISSISSIPPI
IN INHUMANITY, MURDER,
BRUTALITY AND RACIAL HATRED.
IT IS ABSOLUTELY A
THE BOTTOM OF THE LIST.
Man:
IN JACKSON,
MISSISSIPPI, IN 1963 ♪
THERE LIVED A MAN
WHO WAS BRAVE ♪
HE FOUGHT FOR FREEDOM ♪
ALL OF HIS LIFE ♪
BUT THEY LAID MEDGAR EVERS ♪
IN HIS GRAVE. ♪
ON THE DAY THA
MEDGAR WAS FUNERAL,
I MEAN, THERE WAS VIOLENCE.
THERE WAS NO WAY TO PREDICT IT.
THERE WAS A DIFFEREN
ELEMENT OF PEOPLE
WHO HAD NEVER PARTICIPATED
IN THE MOVEMENT BEFORE
THE GUYS OFF THE STREET,
WHO WERE JUST ANGRY, YOU KNOW,
WHO AT THAT TIME IS WE HAD
VERY LITTLE CONTACT WITH
IN THE JACKSON AREA.
WE HAD MOSTLY WORKED
THROUGH CHURCHES,
WE HAD WORKED THROUGH STUDENTS,
YOUNG PEOPLE,
AND THEN JUST PEOPLE IN GENERAL,
YOU KNOW.
BUT THE STREET PEOPLE WE HAD
NOT REALLY WORKED WITH,
BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T WAN
TO HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH US
BECAUSE THEY ALWAYS FEL
THAT THEY COULD NOT COPE
WITH THE NONVIOLENCE.
NOT THAT THEY
DISAGREED WITH THE MOVEMENT,
JUST THE TACTICS THAT WE USED.
AND ON THAT PARTICULAR DAY,
THAT GROUP OF PEOPLE
DECIDED TO SPEAK OUT.
(people shouting )
THE POLICE DEPARTMEN
AND OTHERS CAME THERE.
THEY ACTUALLY
ANTAGONIZED THE PEOPLE.
THEY WERE THERE IN
FULL BATTALION GEAR
WITH THE RIOT ARMOR ON AND GUNS,
AND THEY WERE BEING PRETTY ROUGH
WITH THE PEOPLE ON THE STREET.
AND THE PEOPLE JUST SAID,
"WE'RE NOT GOING TO TAKE THAT.
"THIS IS THE FUNERAL
OF OUR LEADER.
"AND HERE THEY ARE,
HARASSING US
AND THE WHITE FOLK
KILLED HIM."
Narrator:
SHOTS HAD ALREADY BEEN FIRED
WHEN JOHN DOAR, A JUSTICE
DEPARTMENT ATTORNEY,
STEPPED BETWEEN THE CROWDS
AND THE POLICE.
WITH THE HELP OF DAVE
DENNIS AND OTHERS,
DOAR CONVINCED BOTH
SIDES TO BACK OFF.
THE DEMONSTRATORS WENT HOME.
MEDGAR EVERS WAS BURIED
IN ARLINGTON CEMETERY
WITH FULL MILITARY HONORS.
NO ONE WAS EVER
CONVICTED OF HIS MURDER.
THE ASSASSINATION
OF MEDGAR EVERS
ON A STATE WHICH SEEMED AT WAR
WITH HALF OF ITS OWN CITIZENS.
AS ANGER GREW, SO DID A CONCERN
THAT MISSISSIPPI COULD NEVER
BE MADE TO CHANGE FROM WITHIN.
CIVIL RIGHTS LEADERS
AND SYMPATHETIC WHITES
TRAVELED TO THE SOUTH
TO SEE FIRSTHAND
THE STATE CALLED
"THE CLOSED SOCIETY."
ANY DOUBTS WE HAD ABOUT THE
DESIRABILITY OF COMING DOWN
BEFORE WE CAME
HAVE BEEN REMOVED BY WHAT WE'VE
SEEN SINCE WE'VE BEEN HERE.
WHAT WE'VE DISCOVERED IS
THAT THE PEOPLE WHO RUN
MISSISSIPPI TODAY
CAN ONLY DO SO BY FORCE.
THEY CANNOT ALLOW A FREE
ELECTION IN MISSISSIPPI
BECAUSE IF THEY DID, THEY
WOULDN'T RUN MISSISSIPPI.
AND AS WE GO AROUND MISSISSIPPI
AND ARE ARRESTED AND BEATEN
AND CHARGED WITH MISCELLANEOUS
AND VERY IMAGINATIVE TRAFFIC
VIOLATIONS THAT DON'T OCCUR
AND THREATENED
AND TOLD TO LEAVE,
WE UNDERSTAND WHY THE PEOPLE
ASKED US TO COME DOWN HERE,
BECAUSE INSIDE MISSISSIPPI, THE
RULE OF FORCE IS SO HARD ON THEM
THAT THEY CAN'T SHAKE THE YOKE.
BUT WHEN WE LEAVE MISSISSIPPI,
WE'LL TELL WHAT WE HAVE FOUND.
AND THE PEOPLE
OF THE UNITED STATES
AREN'T GOING TO ALLOW THIS
TO GO ON FOREVER.
Narrator:
MOVEMENT LEADERS DEBATED
HOW TO KEEP NATIONAL
ATTENTION ON MISSISSIPPI.
IN JUNE 1964, BOB MOSES
ANNOUNCED "FREEDOM SUMMER."
WE HOPE TO SEND INTO
MISSISSIPPI THIS SUMMER
UPWARDS OF 1,000 TEACHERS,
MINISTERS, LAWYERS AND STUDENTS
FROM ALL AROUND THE COUNTRY
WHO WILL ENGAGE IN WHAT WE
ARE CALLING "FREEDOM SCHOOLS,"
COMMUNITY CENTER PROGRAMS,
VOTER REGISTRATION ACTIVITY,
RESEARCH WORK, WORK IN
THE WHITE COMMUNITIES
AND, IN GENERAL, A PROGRAM
DESIGNED TO OPEN UP MISSISSIPPI
TO THE COUNTRY.
Narrator:
OPENING UP MISSISSIPPI
WOULD NOT BE EASY.
LOCAL NEWSPAPERS WARNED
OF A COMING INVASION.
GOVERNOR PAUL JOHNSON CALLED
FOR MORE HIGHWAY PATROLMEN.
THE CITY OF JACKSON
ORDERED AN ARMORED TRUCK
FOR RIOT CONTROL
ALL TO RESIST COLLEGE STUDENTS
FROM ACROSS THE COUNTRY
WHO HAD VOLUNTEERED TO WORK
IN THE STATE DURING THE SUMMER.
MOST OF THE STUDENTS
THAT PEOPLE WERE BRINGING
IN FOR THE SUMMER PROJEC
WERE FROM THE LARGE UNIVERSITIES
AND THEY WERE FROM FAMILIES
WHO WERE POLITICIANS, BANKERS,
LAWYERS AND OTHERS.
AND WE FELT BY THE FAC
THAT BRINGING IN
THOSE PARTICULAR PEOPLE
THAT THE ATTENTION OF THEIR
PARENTS AND RELATIVES
FROM THE VARIOUS DIFFEREN
OTHER PARTS OF THE COUNTRY
WOULD BE ON THESE AREAS.
AND BY HAVING LARGE
NUMBERS OF WHITES IN HERE
IS THE PRESS,
THE AMERICAN PUBLIC
WOULD HAVE MUCH MORE CONCERN
THAN IF THERE WERE JUS
A BUNCH OF BLACKS
THAT WERE IN THE STATE.
Narrator:
THE FIRST FREEDOM
SUMMER VOLUNTEERS
GATHERED FOR TRAINING
IN OXFORD, OHIO.
Bob Dylan:
IS BLOWIN' IN THE WIND ♪
THE ANSWER IS BLOWIN'
IN THE WIND. ♪
WE'RE GOING DOWN THERE.
WE'RE TRYING TO FACE A REAL
SITUATION THAT WILL OCCUR
NAMELY, THERE'LL BE A MOB
AT THE COURTHOUSE.
AND WE WANT TO GET USED TO THIS,
USED TO PEOPLE JEERING AT US.
WE ALSO WANT THE WHITE STUDENTS
WHO ARE PLAYING THE MOB
TO GET USED TO SAYING THINGS,
CALLING OUT EPITHETS
CALLING PEOPLE "NIGGERS"
AND "NIGGER LOVERS."
(students all shouting )
Forman:
OKAY, THAT WAS VERY GOOD.
(laughter )
SEE, WHAT HAPPENED
OKAY.
THAT WAS VERY GOOD
BECAUSE YOU ALL
GOT CARRIED AWAY, SEE?
I MEAN, YOU WERE
JUST SUPPOSED TO YELL
AND YOU STARTED HITTING US
SO YOU GOT OFF
YOUR FRUSTRATIONS, YOU KNOW.
BUT THAT'S WHAT HAPPENS,
YOU KNOW.
Man:
ISN'T THAT REALLY
THE WAY IT BEGINS?
YEAH, THAT'S WHAT HAPPENS,
YOU KNOW.
PEOPLE BEGIN SHOUTING,
THEN SOMEBODY LURCHES FORWARD
AND THEN EVERYBODY
BEGINS TO LURCH FORWARD.
SO THAT WAS EVEN BETTER
THAN WE HAD ANTICIPATED.
Narrator:
THE STUDENTS WERE
WARNED OF VIOLENCE
AND OF THE POSSIBILITY OF DEATH
ONCE THEY CROSSED THE
MISSISSIPPI STATE LINE.
Man:
PEOPLE SHOULD EXPEC
TO GET BEATEN
Narrator:
THE FIRST WAVE OF RECRUITS,
INCLUDING 20-YEAR-OLD ANDREW
GOODMAN FROM NEW YORK CITY,
LEFT SATURDAY, JUNE 20,
FOR MISSISSIPPI.
GOODMAN RODE WITH VETERAN
CIVIL RIGHTS WORKERS
JAMES CHANEY, AGE 21,
AND MICHAEL SCHWERNER, AGE 24.
SUNDAY, JUNE 21.
ON ANDY GOODMAN'S
FIRST DAY IN MISSISSIPPI,
THE THREE MEN DROVE
TO INVESTIGATE
THE BURNING OF A BLACK
METHODIST CHURCH.
THE CHURCH HAD BEEN THE SCENE
OF A CIVIL RIGHTS MEETING
JUST WEEKS BEFORE.
AROUND 3:00 THAT AFTERNOON,
THEIR 1963 BLUE
FORD STATION WAGON
WAS STOPPED BY DEPUTY
SHERIFF CECIL PRICE
OUTSIDE THE TOWN
OF PHILADELPHIA.
THE THREE YOUNG MEN WERE
RELEASED BY DEPUTY PRICE
AROUND 10:30 THAT NIGHT.
IT WAS THEN THA
THEY DISAPPEARED.
IN OXFORD, OHIO, VOLUNTEERS
WERE WAITING TO TRAVEL SOUTH.
WE HAD TO TELL THE STUDENTS
WHAT WE THOUGHT WAS GOING ON
BECAUSE IF, IN FACT,
ANYONE IS ARRESTED
AND THEN TAKEN OUT OF THE JAIL,
THEN THE CHANCES THAT THEY ARE
ALIVE IS JUST ALMOST ZERO.
AND WE HAD TO CONFRON
THE STUDENTS WITH THA
BEFORE THEY WENT DOWN,
BECAUSE THEY NOW HAD
THE BALL GAME WAS CHANGED.
Group:
DEEP IN MY HEART ♪
I KNOW THAT I DO BELIEVE ♪
OH, WE SHALL OVERCOME ♪
Narrator:
WITHIN DAYS, THE DISAPPEARANCE
WAS NATIONAL NEWS.
A MASSIVE SEARCH WAS ORDERED
BY PRESIDENT LYNDON JOHNSON.
200 SAILORS FROM THE NAVAL
AIR STATION IN MERIDIAN
MOVED INTO THE PHILADELPHIA AREA
AND WERE JOINED
THERE BY F.B.I. AGENTS.
Newscaster:
IN MERIDIAN,
THE WIFE OF MISSING MICKEY
SCHWERNER, RITA SCHWERNER,
FLEW FROM OXFORD,
WHERE SHE'D BEEN TRAINING
MANY OF THE SUMMER VOLUNTEERS.
SHE WAS GREETED BY JAMES
FARMER, HEAD OF CORE,
THE CONGRESS OF RACIAL EQUALITY.
IT'S TRAGIC, AS FAR
AS I AM CONCERNED,
THAT WHITE NORTHERNERS
HAVE TO BE CAUGHT UP
IN THE MACHINERY OF INJUSTICE
AND INDIFFERENCE IN THE SOUTH
BEFORE THE AMERICAN
PEOPLE REGISTER CONCERN.
I PERSONALLY SUSPEC
THAT IF MR. CHANEY,
WHO IS A NATIVE
MISSISSIPPIAN NEGRO,
HAD BEEN ALONE AT THE TIME
OF THE DISAPPEARANCE,
THAT THIS CASE, LIKE SO MANY
OTHERS THAT HAVE COME BEFORE,
WOULD HAVE GONE
COMPLETELY UNNOTICED.
THEIR DISAPPEARANCE,
ALTHOUGH IT MIGH
HAVE BEEN CALCULATED
TO TRY AND DRIVE PEOPLE
AWAY FROM THE STATE,
HAD JUST THE OPPOSITE EFFEC
ON ME AND EVERYONE ELSE.
WHENEVER AN INCIDEN
LIKE THIS HAPPENS
AND THEY HAPPEN FAIRLY OFTEN,
ALTHOUGH USUALLY
NOT THIS SERIOUS
EVERYONE REACTS THE SAME WAY.
THEY BECOME MORE AND MORE
DETERMINED
AND FIGHT THE EVIL SYSTEM THA
PEOPLE HAVE TO LIVE UNDER HERE.
I AM DOWN HERE BECAUSE
I BELIEVE THAT MY FREEDOM
IS VERY MUCH ENTANGLED WITH
THE FREEDOM OF EVERY OTHER MAN
AND THAT IF ANOTHER MAN IS
NOT FREE, THEN I'M NOT FREE.
SO I'M FIGHTING FOR
MY OWN FREEDOM HERE.
Man:
ARE YOU
SCARED?
YES, I'M VERY MUCH AFRAID.
EVERYONE HERE IS.
BUT WE KNEW BEFORE WE CAME DOWN
SOMETHING ABOUT WHA
IT'S GOING TO BE LIKE
AND I DON'T KNOW OF ANYBODY
THAT'S TURNING BACK
BECAUSE OF THINGS LIKE THIS
THAT HAPPEN.
WE MOST CERTAINLY
DO NOT AND WILL NO
GIVE PROTECTION TO
CIVIL RIGHTS WORKERS.
IN THE FIRST PLACE, THE F.B.I.
IS NOT A POLICE ORGANIZATION.
IT'S PURELY AN
INVESTIGATIVE ORGANIZATION.
AND THE PROTECTION
OF INDIVIDUAL CITIZENS,
EITHER NATIVES OF THE STATE
OR COMING INTO THE STATE,
IS A MATTER FOR THE
LOCAL AUTHORITIES.
THE F.B.I. WILL NOT PARTICIPATE
IN ANY SUCH PROTECTION.
Narrator:
BY EARLY JULY, THE VOLUNTEERS
HAD ARRIVED IN FULL FORCE.
DURING THE SUMMER, 80 CIVIL
RIGHTS WORKERS WERE BEATEN
AND 1,000 ARRESTS WERE REPORTED.
ONE OF THE MOST DANGEROUS JOBS
WAS TRAVELING FROM HOUSE
TO HOUSE IN ISOLATED RURAL AREAS
TO BUILD SUPPORT FOR
A NEW POLITICAL PARTY.
WE HAVE ORGANIZED
INTO THE MISSISSIPPI
FREEDOM DEMOCRATIC PARTY.
WE ARE HOLDING A FREEDOM
REGISTRATION DRIVE
THROUGHOUT THE STATE,
ENCOURAGING EVERY NEGRO
AND WHITE
WHO WANTS A STAKE IN
HIS POLITICAL FUTURE
TO PROVE IT BY GETTING HIS NAME
ON A FREEDOM REGISTRATION BOOK.
WE HAVE SCHEDULED PRECINC
MEETINGS AND DISTRICT CAUCUSES,
AND ON AUGUST 6,
HERE IN JACKSON,
WE WILL HOLD OUR
STATE CONVENTION.
AT THAT TIME WE WILL
ELECT A SLATE OF DELEGATES
TO THE NATIONAL CONVENTION
IN ATLANTIC CITY.
AND WHEN THAT CONVENTION MEETS,
WE WILL PRESEN
OURSELVES FOR SEATING
AS THE ONLY DEMOCRATICALLY
CONSTITUTED BODY
OF MISSISSIPPI CITIZENS
WORTHY OF TAKING PART IN
THAT CONVENTION'S BUSINESS.
Narrator:
VOLUNTEERS COLLECTING
SIGNATURES FOR THE PARTY
FOUND THEMSELVES
OPENLY CHALLENGING
THE WAY LIFE HAD BEEN
LIVED IN MISSISSIPPI
FOR THREE QUARTERS OF A CENTURY.
Man:
PEOPLE WOULD BE SITTING DOWN
AND YOU WOULD SAY HELLO
AND YOU'D SHAKE THEIR HANDS.
NOW, THAT WAS AN UNUSUAL THING
FOR A WHITE PERSON TO DO
TO A BLACK PERSON
IN MISSISSIPPI AT THAT TIME.
FREQUENTLY PEOPLE WOULD RESPOND
BY NOT LOOKING US IN THE EYE.
AT THE END OF EVERY PHRASE,
THERE WOULD BE
A "MA'AM" OR A "SIR,"
DEPENDING ON WHO WAS THERE,
AND THEY WOULD SAY YES
TO EVERYTHING WE SAID.
WE'D SAY, "WOULD YOU
LIKE TO BE INVOLVED
"IN THE VOTER
REGISTRATION PROJECT?
WILL YOU GO DOWN TO VOTE?"
"YES, SIR."
AND WE KNEW WE WERE NO
GETTING ACROSS.
WE KNEW THEY WERE JUST WAITING
FOR US TO GO AWAY
BECAUSE WE WERE
A DANGER TO THEM
AND IN MANY WAYS WE WERE.
WE HAD MUCH LESS TO RISK
THAN THEY DID.
THIS WAS THEIR LIVES,
THEIR LAND, THEIR FAMILY
AND THEY WERE GOING TO BE HERE
WHEN WE WERE GONE.
Narrator:
DESPITE THE FEAR,
60,000 SIGNED UP
AS MEMBERS OF THE MISSISSIPPI
FREEDOM DEMOCRATIC PARTY.
THIS MASS POLITICAL AWAKENING
REMINDED SEGREGATIONISTS
OF THE YEARS
FOLLOWING THE CIVIL WAR,
A TIME WHEN BLACKS
HAD BEEN ELECTED
TO HIGH POLITICAL OFFICE.
WE HAVE HAD EXPERIENCE
IN THE PAS
WITH NEGRO POLITICAL DOMINATION.
IT WAS KNOWN
AS THE RECONSTRUCTION.
THERE ARE SOME WHO CALL
THIS PRESENT ATTEMP
TO BUILD UP POLITICAL POWER
THROUGH THE MASS REGISTRATION
OF UNQUALIFIED NEGRO VOTERS
THE SECOND RECONSTRUCTION.
I DON'T WANT THE NEGRO
AS I HAVE KNOWN HIM AND
CONTACTED HIM DURING MY LIFETIME
AS A CLASS
TO CONTROL THE MAKING OF A LAW
THAT CONTROLS ME;
TO CONTROL THE GOVERNMEN
UNDER WHICH I LIVE.
Interviewer:
WOULD YOU FEEL
BETTER, THEN,
IF THERE WERE
SOME LEGAL MEANS
OF KEEPING ALL NEGROES
OFF THE ROLLS?
I'D FEEL BETTER
AND I THINK THIS COUNTRY
WOULD BE BETTER OFF
IF ALL NEGROES WERE
REMOVED FROM I
BECAUSE I THINK IT IS
A POTENTIAL SOURCE
OF RACIAL STRIFE.
Narrator:
WHILE THE SEARCH
FOR THE MISSING CIVIL
RIGHTS WORKERS CONTINUED,
PRESIDENT LYNDON JOHNSON SIGNED
THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964.
THE NEW LAW INCREASED THE
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT'S POWER
TO BAN DISCRIMINATION
IN PUBLIC PLACES,
BUT DID LITTLE TO GIVE
SOUTHERN BLACKS THE VOTE.
IN MISSISSIPPI, THE CIVIL
RIGHTS GROUPS PUSHED FORWARD
WITH THE DRIVE
TO SIGN UP MEMBERS
FOR THE NEW
FREEDOM DEMOCRATIC PARTY.
SUMMER VOLUNTEERS ALSO SUPPLIED
LEGAL AND MEDICAL SERVICES
AND SET UP A SYSTEM OF COMMUNITY
CENTERS AND ALTERNATIVE SCHOOLS,
ALL PART OF FREEDOM SUMMER.
(children singing )
(music playing in background )
Narrator:
FOR YEARS, MOST BLACKS
IN MISSISSIPPI
HAD BEEN DENIED THE RIGH
TO A DECENT EDUCATION.
S.N.C.C. OPENED 41 FREEDOM
SCHOOLS ACROSS THE STATE.
BY DAY, THE VOLUNTEERS
TAUGHT EVERYTHING
FROM THE 3 "R's"
TO INNOVATIVE COURSES
IN BLACK HISTORY.
BY NIGHT, THE SCHOOLS WERE
USED FOR POLITICAL MEETINGS
TO EXPLAIN THE NEW PARTY
AND TO SIGN UP NEW MEMBERS.
THESE ACTIVITIES AND
THE PRESENCE OF WHITE VOLUNTEERS
TEACHING IN BLACK SCHOOLS
AND LIVING IN BLACK HOMES
OFFENDED MANY
WHITE MISSISSIPPIANS.
WHEN THE CIVIL RIGHTS
WORKERS INVADED THE STATE
IN THE SUMMER OF 1964
TO CHANGE US,
PRESUMABLY INTO THEIR OWN IMAGE,
THEY WERE MET WITH A FEELING
OF SOME CURIOSITY
BUT MOSTLY RESENTMENT.
THEY FANNED OU
ACROSS THE STATE,
MADE A GREAT TO-DO
OF BREAKING UP OUR CUSTOMS,
OF FLAUNTING SOCIAL PRACTICES
THAT HAD BEEN RESPECTED
BY PEOPLE HERE OVER THE YEARS.
THAT WAS THE TIME OF
THE HIPPIES JUST COMING IN.
MANY HAD ON HIPPIE UNIFORMS
AND CONDUCTED THEMSELVES
IN HIPPIE WAYS.
THEY WERE NOT EXACTLY
THE TYPES OF MODELS
THAT MOST PEOPLE THA
I KNEW WANTED TO EMULATE.
ALSO, THE ARROGANCE
THAT THEY SHOWED
IN WANTING TO REFORM
A WHOLE STATE
IN THE WAY
THEY THOUGHT IT SHOULD BE
CREATED RESENTMENT.
(dog barking )
Narrator:
BY LATE JULY,
THE THREE YOUNG MEN HAD BEEN
MISSING FOR SIX WEEKS.
MANY LOST HOPE THA
THEY WERE STILL ALIVE,
BUT THE GOALS FOR FREEDOM
SUMMER WERE UNCHANGED.
VOLUNTEERS WANTED TO PROVE
THAT BLACK AND WHITE
COULD LIVE AND WORK TOGETHER.
I REMEMBER COOKING
SOME PINTO BEANS
AND THAT'S ALL WE HAD.
AND EVERYBODY JUS
GOT AROUND THE POT, YOU KNOW,
AND THAT WAS AN EXPERIENCE
YOU KNOW, JUST TO SEE WHITE
PEOPLE COMING AROUND THE PO
AND GETTING A BOWL
AND PUTTING SOME STUFF IN
AND THEN SITTING AROUND TALKING,
AND SITTING ON THE FLOOR,
SITTING ANYWHERE
BECAUSE THERE WASN'T ANY
GREAT DINING ROOM TABLES
AND STUFF THAT WE
HAD BEEN USED TO WORKING
IN THE WHITE PEOPLE'S HOUSES,
AND GO IN THERE
AND FIND THEM ALL SITTING,
YOU KNOW, AND EVERYBODY SITTING
AND THEY'D RING A BELL
OR SOMETHING AND TAP,
AND YOU'D COME IN AND BRING
THE STUFF AND PUT IT AROUND.
BUT THIS YOU WERE
SITTING ON THE FLOOR,
AND THEY WAS TALKING AND,
YOU KNOW,
WE WERE SITTING THERE LAUGHING
AND I GUESS THEY BECAME
VERY REAL AND VERY HUMAN
WE EACH TO ONE ANOTHER.
Narrator:
ON AUGUST 4,
ON A FARM OUTSIDE THE
TOWN OF PHILADELPHIA,
THE BODIES OF GOODMAN,
CHANEY AND SCHWERNER
WERE DISCOVERED BURIED
TOGETHER IN AN EARTHEN DAM.
THE AUTOPSY REPORTS INDICATED
THAT THE MEN HAD BEEN KILLED
BY .38-CALIBER BULLETS.
A LATER REPORT REVEALED
THAT JAMES CHANEY,
THE ONE BLACK VICTIM,
HAD ALSO SUFFERED SEVERE
BONE AND SKULL FRACTURES.
THROUGHOUT OUR HISTORY,
COUNTLESS AMERICANS HAVE DIED
IN THE CONTINUING
STRUGGLE FOR EQUALITY.
WE SHALL CONTINUE
TO WORK FOR THIS GOAL
AND WE FERVENTLY HOPE
THAT AMERICANS SO ENGAGED
WILL BE AIDED AND PROTECTED
IN THIS NOBLE MISSION.
FOR OURSELVES, WE WISH
TO EXPRESS OUR PRIDE
IN OUR SON'S COMMITMEN
AND THAT OF HIS
COMPANIONS NOW DEAD
AND THAT OF HIS COMPANIONS
NOW ALIVE,
NOW IN MISSISSIPPI,
ACTING EACH HOUR
TO EXPRESS THOSE TRUTHS
THAT ARE SELF-EVIDENT.
Narrator:
AUGUST 7, 1964
THE FUNERAL OF JAMES CHANEY
IN MERIDIAN, MISSISSIPPI.
Choir:
THEN THE MISSISSIPPI
RIVER ♪
THEN THE MISSISSIPPI
RIVER ♪
WELL, YOU CAN COUNT THEM
A-ONE BY ONE ♪
IT COULD BE YOUR SON ♪
COUNT THEM A-TWO BY TWO ♪
IT COULD BE ME OR YOU ♪
COUNT THEM A-THREE BY THREE ♪
DO YOU WANT TO SEE? ♪
COUNT THEM A-FOUR BY FOUR ♪
I FEEL THAT HE'S GOT HIS FREEDOM
AND WE ARE STILL
FIGHTING FOR IT.
BUT WHAT I WAN
TO TALK ABOUT RIGHT NOW,
IT'S THE LIVING DEATH THAT WE
HAVE RIGHT AMONG OUR MIDS
NOT ONLY IN THE STATE
OF MISSISSIPPI,
BUT THROUGHOUT THE NATION
THOSE ARE THE PEOPLE
WHO DON'T CARE,
THOSE WHO DO CARE BUT DON'T HAVE
THE GUTS ENOUGH
TO STAND UP FOR IT,
AND THOSE PEOPLE WHO ARE BUSY
UP IN WASHINGTON
AND OTHER PLACES
USING MY FREEDOM AND MY LIFE
TO PLAY POLITICS WITH.
THAT INCLUDES THE PRESIDEN
ON DOWN TO THE GOVERNOR
OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI.
IN MY OPINION,
AS I STAND HERE,
I NOT ONLY BLAME THE PEOPLE
WHO PULLED THE TRIGGER
OR DID THE BEATING
OR DUG THE HOLE WITH THE SHOVEL,
OR BURIED NOT BURIED, SORRY.
BUT I BLAME THE PEOPLE
IN WASHINGTON, D.C.,
AND ON DOWN IN THE STATE OF
MISSISSIPPI FOR WHAT HAPPENED
JUST AS MUCH AS I BLAME THOSE
WHO PULLED THE TRIGGER.
YOU SEE, I KNOW
WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN!
I FEEL IT DEEP IN MY HEART.
WHEN THEY FIND THE PEOPLE
WHO KILLED THOSE GUYS
IN NESHOBA COUNTY,
YOU GOT TO COME BACK TO
THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI
ALL THEIR COUSINS,
THEIR AUNTS, THEIR UNCLES
AND I KNOW WHAT THEY'RE GOING
TO SAY "NOT GUILTY."
'CAUSE NO ONE SAW THEM
PULL THE TRIGGER.
I'M TIRED OF THAT!
SEE, AND ANOTHER THING THA
MAKES ME EVEN TIREDER, THOUGH,
THAT IS THE FAC
THAT WE AS PEOPLE
HERE IN THE STATE
AND THE COUNTRY
ARE ALLOWING THIS TO CONTINUE
TO HAPPEN
EVEN US AS BLACK FOLK.
AS I LOOK
AT THE YOUNG KIDS HERE,
THAT'S SOMETHING ELSE
THAT I GRIEVE ABOUT.
LITTLE BEN CHANEY HERE,
AND THE OTHER ONES LIKE HIM
AROUND IN THIS AUDIENCE.
WHEN HE WANTS SOMEONE
TO BABY-SIT FOR HIM,
HE GETS MY BLACK MAMMY
TO HOLD THAT BABY!
SEE, AS LONG AS HE CAN DO THAT,
HE CAN SIT DOWN BESIDE ME,
HE CAN WATCH ME GO UP THERE
AND REGISTER TO VOTE,
AND HE CAN WATCH ME
TAKE SOME TYPE
OF PUBLIC OFFICE IN THE STATE
AND HE CAN SIT DOWN
AS I RULE OVER HIM
JUST AS HE'S RULED OVER
ME FOR YEARS, YOU SEE.
THIS IS OUR COUNTRY, TOO.
WE DIDN'T ASK TO COME HERE
WHEN THEY BROUGHT US OVER HERE.
I HAD BEEN APPROACHED
BY THE PEOPLE
OF MY NATIONAL OFFICE OF CORE
AND OTHERS
TO MAKE SURE THAT THE SPEECH
THAT'S GIVEN IS CALM.
THEY DON'T WANT A LOT OF, YOU
KNOW, OF THINGS STIRRED UP
AND EVERYTHING ELSE LIKE THAT.
AND I'D AGREED TO DO THAT, AND I
SAID OKAY, FINE, THAT'S GOOD.
BUT THEN WHEN I GOT UP THERE
AND I LOOKED OUT THERE
AND I SAW LITTLE BEN CHANEY,
THINGS JUST SORT OF SNAPPED
AND I WAS IN A FANTASY WORLD
TO BE SITTING UP HERE TALKING
ABOUT THINGS GOING TO GET BETTER
AND WE SHOULD DO I
IN AN EASY MANNER
AND WITH NONVIOLENCE
AND STUFF LIKE THAT.
BECAUSE THIS COUNTRY,
YOU CANNOT MAKE A MAN CHANGE
BY SPEAKING A FOREIGN LANGUAGE.
HE HAS TO UNDERSTAND
WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT.
THIS COUNTRY OPERATES, OPERATED
THEN AND STILL OPERATES,
I MEAN, "EYE FOR AN EYE,
TOOTH FOR A TOOTH."
THAT'S WHAT WE RESPECT.
Narrator:
THE PARENTS OF CHANEY
AND SCHWERNER
WANTED THEIR SONS BURIED
SIDE BY SIDE IN MERIDIAN.
BUT MISSISSIPPI LAW ENFORCED
SEGREGATION EVEN IN DEATH.
JAMES CHANEY, AGE 21,
WAS BURIED ALONE
IN A SEGREGATED CEMETERY.
Preacher:
SORROW AND SADNESS,
THAT WE ARE ALL ONE FAMILY
Narrator:
THE STATE NEVER BROUGH
ANYONE TO TRIAL
FOR THE MURDER
OF THE THREE YOUNG MEN,
BUT IN FEDERAL COURT, DEPUTY
CECIL PRICE AND SIX OTHERS
WERE FOUND GUILTY OF
CIVIL RIGHTS VIOLATIONS
IN CONNECTION WITH THE KILLINGS
AND RECEIVED SENTENCES
RANGING FROM THREE TO TEN YEARS.
AS FREEDOM SUMMER
MOVED TOWARDS AUGUST,
THE STATE'S DEMOCRATIC PARTY ME
TO SELECT DELEGATES TO
THE NATIONAL CONVENTION.
AS USUAL, BLACKS WERE NO
ALLOWED TO PARTICIPATE,
BUT THIS WOULD BE
NO ORDINARY ELECTION YEAR.
TWO WEEKS LATER, THE MISSISSIPPI
FREEDOM DEMOCRATIC PARTY
CHOSE ITS OWN DELEGATES
TO CHALLENGE THE RIGH
OF THE ALL-WHITE REGULARS
TO REPRESENT THE STATE.
THE M.F.D.P. EMPHASIZED THA
IT WAS OPEN TO ALL CITIZENS.
THE MISSISSIPPI FREEDOM
DEMOCRATIC PARTY
IS ONLY BEGINNING,
AND IT IS BEGINNING
ON THE BASIS THAT IT BELIEVES
THAT A POLITICAL PARTY SHOULD
BE OPEN TO ALL THE PEOPLE
WHO WISH TO SUBSCRIBE
TO ITS PRINCIPLES.
THAT MEANS
(applause )
IT'S OPEN TO EVEN THE SON
OF THE PLANTER
ON WHOSE PLANTATION YOU WORK
IF THAT SON
HAS REACHED THE POIN
THAT HE IS WILLING TO
SUBSCRIBE TO YOUR PRINCIPLES.
Narrator:
THE M.F.D.P. DELEGATION OF
64 BLACKS AND FOUR WHITES
PREPARED TO LEAVE
FOR ATLANTIC CITY.
THEIR GOAL WAS TO BE SEATED
AT THE DEMOCRATIC
NATIONAL CONVENTION
AS THE TRUE REPRESENTATIVES
OF THEIR HOME STATE.
FOR MANY, IT WAS THEIR FIRS
TRIP OUT OF MISSISSIPPI.
FOR ALL, THIS WAS THE
CULMINATION OF FREEDOM SUMMER,
THE FINAL OPPORTUNITY TO OPEN UP
MISSISSIPPI TO THE NATION.
YOU KNOW, I THINK ONE OF THE
THINGS THAT MADE THE DELEGATION
OF THE MISSISSIPPI
FREEDOM DEMOCRATIC PARTY
SO HOPEFUL, YOU KNOW,
SO EXPECTAN
WAS THE FACT THAT PEOPLE
HAD MADE A DISCOVERY
THAT THERE IS A WAY OUT OF MUCH
THAT IS WRONG WITH OUR LIVES
AND THAT THERE IS
A WAY TO CHANGE I
AND THAT IS THROUGH
THE EXECUTION OF THIS VOTE,
YOU KNOW.
AND SO WE CAN'T GET PAST THESE
PEOPLE AT THE STATE LEVEL
BECAUSE THEY'VE LOCKED US OUT,
BUT WE JUST KNOW THAT ONCE
WE GET TO THE NATIONAL LEVEL,
WITH ALL THE PROOF
THAT WE HAVE BEEN LOCKED OU
AND THE FACT THA
WE'VE HAD THE COURAGE
TO GO AHEAD AND CREATE
OUR OWN PARTY,
THEN WE FEEL LIKE WE ARE GOING
TO GET THAT REPRESENTATION
THAT WE'VE BEEN
DENIED FOR SO LONG.
Narrator:
ATLANTIC CITY, NEW JERSEY,
SITE OF THE 1964
DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION.
LYNDON JOHNSON
EXPECTED NO OPPOSITION
IN GETTING HIS
PARTY'S NOMINATION,
BUT WAS CONCERNED THE M.F.D.P.
WOULD DISRUPT PARTY UNITY.
WITH THE ARRIVAL OF THE FREEDOM
DEMOCRATS ON AUGUST 20,
THERE WERE NOW TWO DELEGATIONS
IN TOWN FROM MISSISSIPPI.
THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY
WOULD HAVE TO DECIDE
WHICH WOULD REPRESENT THE STATE
ON THE CONVENTION FLOOR.
THAT DECISION WOULD BE MADE
BY THE CREDENTIALS COMMITTEE.
ON SATURDAY, AUGUST 22,
AMERICA WATCHED THIS
NATIONALLY TELEVISED HEARING.
IT IS THE VERY TERROR THA
THESE PEOPLE ARE LIVING THROUGH
THAT IS THE REASON
THAT NEGROES AREN'T VOTING,
THAT THEY'RE KEPT OU
OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY
BY THE TERROR OF
THE REGULAR PARTY,
AND WHAT I WANT THE CREDENTIALS
COMMITTEE TO HEAR
IS THE TERROR
WHICH THE REGULAR PARTY USES
ON THE PEOPLE OF MISSISSIPPI,
WHICH IS WHAT REVEREND
KING WAS EXPLAINING,
WHICH IS WHAT AARON HENRY
WAS EXPLAINING
AND WHICH IS WHAT THE NEX
WITNESS WILL EXPLAIN
MRS. FANNIE LOU HAMER.
MR. CHAIRMAN,
AND TO THE CREDENTIALS
COMMITTEE,
MY NAME IS
MRS. FANNIE LOU HAMER
AND I LIVE
AT 626 EAST LAFAYETTE STREET,
RULEVILLE, MISSISSIPPI,
SUNFLOWER COUNTY,
THE HOME OF SENATOR
JAMES O. EASTLAND
AND SENATOR STENNIS.
IF THE FREEDOM DEMOCRATIC PARTY
IS NOT SEATED NOW,
I QUESTION AMERICA.
IS THIS AMERICA?
THE LAND OF THE FREE
AND THE HOME OF THE BRAVE?
WHERE WE HAVE TO SLEEP WITH
OUR TELEPHONES OFF OF THE HOOK
BECAUSE OUR LIVES
BE THREATENED DAILY
BECAUSE WE WANT TO LIVE AS
DECENT HUMAN BEINGS IN AMERICA.
WE WILL RETURN TO THIS SCENE
IN ATLANTIC CITY,
BUT NOW WE SWITCH TO THE WHITE
HOUSE AND NBC'S ROBERT GORALSKI.
Narrator:
LYNDON JOHNSON CUT OFF
COVERAGE OF M.F.D.P. TESTIMONY
BY MAKING A LAST-MINUTE REQUES
FOR NETWORK AIR TIME.
WE HAD AN HOUR BEFORE
THE CREDENTIALS COMMITTEE.
FANNIE LOU HAMER
MADE HER FAMOUS PITCH,
MARTIN LUTHER KING
WE HAD THE GREATEST ARRAY
OF PEOPLE
YOU HAVE EVER CAN IMAGINE,
AND THE CREDENTIALS COMMITTEE
WAS VERY IMPRESSED.
BUT JOHNSON WAS NOT.
Narrator:
DESPITE THE TV CUT-OFF
BY THE PRESIDENT,
MRS. HAMER'S MESSAGE
HAD GOTTEN THROUGH.
VIEWERS BACK HOME SENT TELEGRAMS
TO DELEGATES
URGING SUPPORT OF THE M.F.D.P.
BUT PRESIDENT JOHNSON WAS AFRAID
SOUTHERNERS WOULD
DESERT THE PARTY
IF THE M.F.D.P. WERE SEATED.
HE BEGAN PRESSURING LIBERALS
CLOSE TO THE FREEDOM DEMOCRATS.
SENATOR HUBERT HUMPHREY,
A LONG-TIME CHAMPION
OF CIVIL RIGHTS,
WAS FEELING THAT PRESSURE.
MANY BELIEVED HE WOULD NOT BE
SELECTED FOR THE VICE-PRESIDENCY
UNLESS HE HELPED
STOP THE M.F.D.P.
MY ONLY INTEREST IN THIS IS AN
ATTEMPT TO TRY TO BRING ABOU
A RECONCILIATION OF VIEWS
IN THE HOPES TO KEEP
OUR CONVENTION UNITED
WITH ONE OBJECTIVE: TO DEFEA
MR. GOLDWATER IN NOVEMBER
AND TO CARRY FORWARD
THE DEMOCRATIC PROGRAM.
Narrator:
HUMPHREY ASSIGNED
WALTER MONDALE,
HIS YOUNG PROTEGE
FROM MINNESOTA,
TO WORK OUT A SOLUTION.
SEE, EVERYBODY WAS TRYING
TO THINK OF SOMETHING
THAT WAS SIMPLE
THAT WOULD SOLVE I
AND WOULD SATISFY EVERYBODY.
THE PROBLEM WAS, THERE WAS
NO SUCH SOLUTION.
AND SO WE'D GO AROUND
AND AROUND AND AROUND,
AND EVERYBODY'D TRY THIS
AND TRY THAT.
AND WRITERS WOULD SEE IF THEY
COULD WRITE AROUND THE PROBLEMS,
AND PHILOSOPHERS WOULD SEE IF
THEY COULD DREAM OF SOMETHING
TO DREAM OVER THE PROBLEM.
IT NEVER IT WOULDN'T GO AWAY.
IT HAD TO BE RESOLVED.
IT HAD TO BE COMPROMISED, I
THINK, IN THE WAY THAT WE DID I
AND IT WAS INEVITABLE THA
SOME PEOPLE WOULD BE UNHAPPY.
Narrator:
THE COMMITTEE DID
COME UP WITH A COMPROMISE.
IT OFFERED THE M.F.D.P.
TWO SEATS AT LARGE,
MEANING THEY WOULD NOT REPRESEN
THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI.
IT ALLOWED THE ALL-WHITE
REGULARS TO BE SEATED
ONLY IF THEY WOULD SWEAR LOYALTY
TO THE DEMOCRATIC TICKET.
FINALLY, THE COMMITTEE PROMISED
TO BAR FROM FUTURE CONVENTIONS
ANY DELEGATION
GUILTY OF DISCRIMINATION.
IN RESPONSE, ALL BUT FOUR
OF THE ALL-WHITE REGULARS
WALKED OUT OF THE CONVENTION.
IT MAY NOT SATISFY EVERYBODY
THE EXTREMES ON THE RIGH
OR THE EXTREMES ON THE LEFT
BUT WE THINK IT IS
A JUST COMPROMISE.
WE THINK IT IS BASED
SOUNDLY ON THE LAW.
WE THINK IT CLEARLY RECOGNIZES,
WITHOUT COMPROMISES,
THE BASIC DEVOTION OF THIS PARTY
TO HUMAN RIGHTS,
AND WE THINK IT REPRESENTS
AND SETS THE STAGE
FOR THE OVERWHELMING VICTORY
OF THE MAN WHO, MORE THAN
ANYBODY ELSE IN THE WORLD,
REPRESENTS THE CAUSE OF
JUSTICE AND LAW TODAY
PRESIDENT LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON.
Narrator:
LYNDON JOHNSON ANNOUNCED
THAT HUBERT HUMPHREY WOULD BE
HIS RUNNING MATE
BEFORE BOARDING THE PLANE
FOR THE CONVENTION.
IN ATLANTIC CITY,
THE FREEDOM DEMOCRATS
HAD NOT YET DECIDED WHETHER TO
ACCEPT OR REJECT THE COMPROMISE.
WE'VE GOT AN OFFER
TO OUR PEOPLE.
WE'VE GO
A GREAT DEAL OUT OF THIS.
I THINK TO CALL THIS A LOSS
IS A BAD MISTAKE.
Reporter:
YOU WERE TALKING
BEFORE OF NO COMPROMISE.
NOW YOU'VE GO
YOUR TWO DELEGATES IN.
THE REGULAR
PARTY'S GOT THREE.
DO YOU THINK YOU'VE
MADE SUBSTANTIAL GAINS?
I THINK WE'VE MADE
A TERRIFIC GAIN.
YOU ALWAYS TALK "NO COMPROMISE"
IN A CONVENTION
UNTIL YOU GET THE BEST YOU CAN.
THEN YOU QUIT.
ARE THE LEADERS
OF THE FREEDOM
DEMOCRATS SATISFIED?
I DON'T THINK SO,
AND I DON'T BLAME THEM.
NOBODY EVER GETS ALL THEY WANT.
THE LEADERS OF THE REGULARS
AREN'T SATISFIED EITHER.
THEY'RE GOING BACK TO JACKSON.
LET MY PEOPLE GO ♪
Narrator:
POLITICAL ALLIES AND
NATIONAL CIVIL RIGHTS LEADERS
URGED THE M.F.D.P. TO
ACCEPT THE COMPROMISE,
BUT THE FREEDOM DEMOCRATS VOTED
OVERWHELMINGLY TO TURN IT DOWN.
IN THE WORDS
OF FANNIE LOU HAMER,
"WE DIDN'T COME ALL THIS WAY
FOR NO TWO SEATS
WHEN ALL OF US IS TIRED."
GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN ♪
TO LET MY PEOPLE GO ♪
WHO'S THAT YONDER
DRESSED IN WHITE? ♪
LET MY PEOPLE GO ♪
LOOKS LIKE THE CHILDREN
OF THE ISRAELITES ♪
OH, LET MY PEOPLE GO ♪
GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN ♪
OVER THE HILLS
AND EVERYWHERE ♪
GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN ♪
TO LET MY PEOPLE GO. ♪
I THINK PEOPLE FEL
THAT THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY
WOULD ACTUALLY EMBRACE THEM.
I THINK THERE WAS A LACK
OF REAL UNDERSTANDING
OF THE DEPTH TO WHICH
THE LOCAL SOUTHERN POLITICIANS
WERE ENTWINED
IN THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY
AND THAT THERE WOULD BE
A REAL RELUCTANCE
ON THE PART OF THE NATIONAL
DEMOCRATIC PARTY LEADERSHIP
TO TAKE IN BLACK PEOPLE
AT THE EXPENSE OF THESE
SOUTHERN POLITICIANS.
THE WHOLE ISSUE AROUND THE
COMPROMISE, FOR US AND FOR ME,
WAS THAT IT WAS SOME
KIND OF POLITICAL PLOY
THAT THEY UNDERSTOOD.
BUT FOR US, FOR MISSISSIPPI,
IT WAS WHAT WAS RIGH
AND WHAT WAS WRONG.
IT WAS, UM
WE HAD BEEN DONE WRONG.
OUR RIGHTS HAD BEEN TAKEN AWAY
AND YOU JUST COULDN'T ISSUE
SOME TWO SEATS AT LARGE
TO CORRECT THAT.
AND IT WAS A MORAL SITUATION
THAT HAD TO BE RIGHTED.
SO IT WASN'T JUST A POLITICAL
SOMETHING TO GET AWAY WITH
THAT WE SIT IN THE ROOMS
AND NEGOTIATE.
YOU KNOW, THEY KNEW
ABOUT THOSE KIND OF THINGS,
BUT WE DIDN'T
HOW TO SIT IN ROOMS
AND NEGOTIATE A WAY
AND SAY, "WE'LL TAKE THE BES
OF THIS, A PIECE OF THAT."
WE WENT AFTER WHAT WAS RIGH
AND IT WAS WRONG THE WAY
WE HAD BEEN TREATED
FOR HUNDREDS AND
HUNDREDS OF YEARS
DENIED THE RIGH
TO REGISTER TO VOTE,
DENIED THE RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE
IN THE POLITICAL PROCESS
AND THAT'S WHAT WAS GOING ON.
Narrator:
THE M.F.D.P. DELEGATES MADE
ONE LAST APPEAL
FOR NATIONAL ATTENTION.
THEY TRIED TO SIT IN THE SEATS
ABANDONED BY THE
MISSISSIPPI REGULARS.
Reporter:
WOULD YOU IDENTIFY
YOURSELF FOR US, PLEASE?
MY NAME IS
MRS. FANNIE LOU HAMER.
I'M THE VICE-CHAIRMAN OF
THE FREEDOM DEMOCRAT PARTY.
WHERE DID YOU GE
THE CREDENTIALS
TO GET INTO THE BUILDING
TONIGHT, MRS. HAMER?
SOME LOYAL FRIENDS OF OURS GAVE
US AN INVITATION TO COME IN.
WE SAT WITH THEM A WHILE
AND WE WANTED TO SI
IN OUR OWN STATE.
DO YOU HAVE
ANY KIND OF CREDENTIALS
THAT WILL GET YOU
INTO THESE SEATS?
NO, WE DON'T
ONLY AS AMERICAN CITIZENS.
Reporter:
MR. SERGEANT-AT-ARMS:
HAVE YOU HAD
ANY CONTINGENCY
PLANS FOR THIS?
NONE AT ALL.
I JUST STAND HERE PEACEFULLY,
TRYING TO KEEP THIS AISLE CLEAR.
THAT'S THE SAME
AS THEY DO DOWN
IN MISSISSIPPI.
WHEN THEY'RE
BEFORE THE EYES
OF THE WORLD,
THEY'RE PEACEFUL
AND LOVING,
AND WHEN THEY GE
BACK TO MISSISSIPPI,
IT'S "NIGGER,
YOU CAN'T COME IN HERE!"
"NIGGER, YOU CAN'
COME IN THERE!"
"NIGGER, YOU GET OUT!"
AND HERE WE ARE
IN THE EYES OF THE WORLD,
SEEING THE SAME
THING THAT HAPPENS
DOWN, WAY DOWN
IN THE DEEP SOUTH,
MISSISSIPPI.
Narrator:
THE M.F.D.P. WAS NEVER SEATED
AT THE 1964 CONVENTION,
BUT THEIR PROTEST OPENED UP
THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY
AND CHANGED NATIONAL POLITICS.
FOR SOME, ATLANTIC CITY
ENDED IN DISILLUSIONMENT.
THEY HAD LOST FAITH
IN AMERICA'S LEADERS,
BUT THEY HAD COME TO KNOW
THEIR OWN POWER.
THE COUNTRY
REFUSES TO DEMAND
THAT MISSISSIPPI GIVE
NEGROES THEIR RIGHTS,
THEIR PRIVILEGES.
WE DIDN'T ASK
TO BE ELECTED
TO ANYTHING.
WE DIDN'T ASK
FOR ANY PATRONAGE.
ALL WE ASKED FOR
IS TO LET US SIT.