RACHEL JOHNSON
News Assistant
Tragedy brought Myrlie Evers and Jerry Mitchell together. From that tragedy blossomed a beautiful friendship that ultimately changed the course of history. The Dean’s Distinguished Lecture Series concluded Tuesday night with a presentation given by historical figures Evers and Mitchell. Both were active participants in bringing to light cases that had been hidden from the public’s eye.
Evers, wife of civil rights activist Medgar Evers, dedicated herself to promoting civil rights after her husband was murdered in 1963. Her husband was the head of the NAACP in Jackson, Miss., and had delivered a speech in which he said, “I fight now for my country…and if it means giving my life to give a better life to all, then I will give it and give it gladly.”
Evers said she had never felt so in love with her husband than at that point, but she also knew that danger constantly surrounded him because of his defiance toward racism. Yet when her husband was murdered, she struggled to keep the fight for civil rights going strong.
“I came from a background of teachers who taught me, ‘don’t rock the boat,’” Evers said. “I was taught to reach for the stars as long as it was within certain perimeters.”
Evers remembered that her husband had encouraged her to never give up in the fight for freedom. As the cliché goes, she said, freedom is not free. Remembering her husband’s death inspired her to keep persevering.
Evers watched as the accused murderer, Byron De La Beckwith, was never charged with her husband’s murder. People told her she was being a fool for not giving up on finding her husband’s killer. But Evers persisted.
Enter journalist Jerry Mitchell. After seeing the movie, “Mississippi Burning,” he was inspired to research cases that had been forgotten that had pitted whites against blacks. The movie showed the murder of three civil rights activists and that their murderers had never been caught. Mitchell said he was shocked about how much he did not know about these types of situations and was inspired to pursue the issue further.
Mitchell made some connections with insiders of the Mississippi Sovereignty Commission, a group created by the state legislature in 1965. According to the Associated Press, the commission was created “to protect the sovereignty of the state of Mississippi…from federal government interference. In practice, it worked to preserve a segregated society…In secret, the commission harassed and spied on activists, branding many of them racial agitators and communist infiltrators.”
Commission officials kept some legal documents a secret, hiding the records that showed that the society had secretly been assisting the defense in acquitting Beckwith.
Mitchell thought this was enough evidence to reopen the case, even though he thought the odds were “more than one million to one.” When the prosecuting attorney found the murder weapon in Beckwith’s father-in-law’s closet, Mitchell knew the case was heading in the right direction.
Crime scene photographs were uncovered, as were records that Beckwith’s fingerprints had been on the weapon. All of the evidence had been concealed. Mitchell exposed his findings to the public and Beckwith was sentenced to serve life in prison.
A chain reaction was set because of this event. Mitchell pursued cases of other Klan members, like Beckwith, who had not been fairly tried for their actions. As he continued to pursue these types of cases, people questioned his actions, saying he should let the past stay in the past. Mitchell knew something they did not understand, though.
“These were young killers who just happened to get old,” Mitchell said. He added that justice needed to be sought.
Since Evers’ trial, 22 other arrests have been made against former Klansmen who persecuted blacks. Mitchell said the greatest lesson he has learned in his experiences has been about grace. He said he watched a former Klan member apologize to the wife of the African-American man he murdered and asked her to forgive him. She did and they wept together.
“Isn’t that what Christ does for us?” Mitchell asked. “Forgive us when we don’t deserve to be forgiven?”
Student reactions were incredibly positive. Freshman Tiffany Enciso-Williams, a student in the social action and justice colloquium, said she enjoyed the lecture because it related to the current civil rights module she is in, taught by Dr. David Holmes.
“It seems like we’re so detached from this, but it wasn’t that long ago,” Enciso-Williams said. “She’s [Evers] my grandma’s age. Having her here is important because she’s someone who lived through this, she’s someone we can relate to.”
Senior Tashara Barnes said it was crucial that this lecture was a part of the dean’s lecture series.
“A lot of people don’t understand the relativity and timeliness of this issue,” Barnes said. “We can still discuss it and civil rights can still impact our lives.”
03-29-2007