James Chaney James Earl Chaney, the Son of a Plasterer, Was Born In
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The Attorney General's Ninth Annual Report to Congress Pursuant to The
THE ATTORNEY GENERAL'S NINTH ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS PURSUANT TO THE EMMETT TILL UNSOLVED CIVIL RIGHTS CRIME ACT OF 2007 AND THIRD ANNUALREPORT TO CONGRESS PURSUANT TO THE EMMETT TILL UNSOLVEDCIVIL RIGHTS CRIMES REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2016 March 1, 2021 INTRODUCTION This is the ninth annual Report (Report) submitted to Congress pursuant to the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act of2007 (Till Act or Act), 1 as well as the third Report submitted pursuant to the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crimes Reauthorization Act of 2016 (Reauthorization Act). 2 This Report includes information about the Department of Justice's (Department) activities in the time period since the eighth Till Act Report, and second Reauthorization Report, which was dated June 2019. Section I of this Report summarizes the historical efforts of the Department to prosecute cases involving racial violence and describes the genesis of its Cold Case Int~~ative. It also provides an overview ofthe factual and legal challenges that federal prosecutors face in their "efforts to secure justice in unsolved Civil Rights-era homicides. Section II ofthe Report presents the progress made since the last Report. It includes a chart ofthe progress made on cases reported under the initial Till Act and under the Reauthorization Act. Section III of the Report provides a brief overview of the cases the Department has closed or referred for preliminary investigation since its last Report. Case closing memoranda written by Department attorneys are available on the Department's website: https://www.justice.gov/crt/civil-rights-division-emmett till-act-cold-ca e-clo ing-memoranda. -
Cold Case Initiative 1St Report to Congress
THE ATTORNEY GENERAL'S FIRST ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS PURSUANT TO THE EMMETT TILL UNSOLVED CIVIL RIGHTS CRIME ACTOF 2007 APRIL 7,2009 This report is submitted pursuant to the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act of 2007, regarding the activities ofthe Department ofJustice (DOJ or the Department) under the Act. This initial report covers activities predating the Act, which was signed into law on October 7,2008, and the six months since its enactment.! 1. THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE'S EFFORTS TO INVESTIGATE AND PROSECUTE UNSOLVED CIVIL RIGHTS ERA HOMICIDES A. Overview and Background The Department of Justice fully supports the goals ofthe Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act of2007. For more than 50 years, the Department of Justice has been instrumental in bringing justice to some ofthe nation's horrific civil rights era crimes. These crimes occurred during a terrible time in our nation's history when some people viewed their fellow Americans as inferior, and as threats, based only on the color of their skin. The Department of Justice believes that racially motivated murders from the civil rights era constitute L some of the greatest blemishes upon our history. As such, the Department stands ready to lend our assistance, expertise, and resources to assist in the investigation and possible prosecution of these matters. Unfortunately, federal jurisdiction over these historic cases is limited. The Ex Post Facto Clause of the Constitution and federal statutory law have limited the Department's ability to prosecute most civil rights era cases at the federal level. For example, two ofthe most important federal statutes that can be used to prosecute racially motivated homicides, 18 U.S.C. -
News Article "Mississippi Horror: a Doctor's Report"
~lJfOPSY ON RIGHTS CRUSADER )ff. W~"t, Mississippi HorrOrrr:,;:, But I wos disappolnted, too, .r I hecause I wouldn't ha.\'e a chance now 1o do something th 1 that rnl~ht help find the mur· r? A Doctor's Report ' 1 derers of those kids, Good· l rich, when he came on the .,._ phone, resoh·ed my amblva· il BY DAY1D 8PAIX, :'.\I.D. I was as surprised by the post· unteer for the Medical Com· t lent feelings for me. fj C09Yright 19'4, The Layman's Pren midnight call as I would have mittee for Human Rights. Reprinttcl bY Permission "Get d0\\'11 here anyway. g . been if I looked out the win· "Dave, can. you get dov,n Take the late plane. There's y The phone rang about 1 :30 dow and saw my ailing out here, right away?" something tunny g o i n g on a .m. I had just gone to sleep, board motor running a.round "To Mississippi?" about this business. I think r after a restless hour In bed by itself in the bay. "Immediately. The autopsy we may be able to arrange conjugating tour days of utter • • • for you to examine the bodies t failure to get my outboard for those three kids Is sched· THE OPERATOR said Jack· uJed fo r tomorrow, and the later. It may all be a Wild J motor running, and I walked son, Miss., was call!ng. goose chase, but let's try." i half-asleep down the dark hall attorneys for :Mrs. -
Mississippi Freedom Summer: Compromising Safety in the Midst of Conflict
Mississippi Freedom Summer: Compromising Safety in the Midst of Conflict Chu-Yin Weng and Joanna Chen Junior Division Group Documentary Process Paper Word Count: 494 This year, we started school by learning about the Civil Rights Movement in our social studies class. We were fascinated by the events that happened during this time of discrimination and segregation, and saddened by the violence and intimidation used by many to oppress African Americans and deny them their Constitutional rights. When we learned about the Mississippi Summer Project of 1964, we were inspired and shocked that there were many people who were willing to compromise their personal safety during this conflict in order to achieve political equality for African Americans in Mississippi. To learn more, we read the book, The Freedom Summer Murders, by Don Mitchell. The story of these volunteers remained with us, and when this year’s theme of “Conflict and Compromise” was introduced, we thought that the topic was a perfect match and a great opportunity for us to learn more. This is also a meaningful topic because of the current state of race relations in America. Though much progress has been made, events over the last few years, including a 2013 Supreme Court decision that could impact voting rights, show the nation still has a way to go toward achieving full racial equality. In addition to reading The Freedom Summer Murders, we used many databases and research tools provided by our school to gather more information. We also used various websites and documentaries, such as PBS American Experience, Library Of Congress, and Eyes on the Prize. -
To South Africans of Color Such As My Mother, Who Came of Age in The
To South Africans of color such as my mother, who came of age in the years after 1948, when the white minority government launched the so- cial experiment known as apartheid, the United States beckoned as a country of promise and opportunity, a faraway place relatively free of the racialized degradation South Africa had come to epitomize. Americans, especially black Americans, were glamorous and well off and lived in beau- tiful homes, my mother and many in her generation believed. Although they understood that whites ran most things in America, too, it was hard to conceive of a life as oppressive as that experienced by people of color under the strictures of South African baaskaap, or white domination. As she planned to leave, my mother believed that she was escaping a country on the verge of self-destruction, its trauma highlighted by events that were increasingly capturing the world’s attention. In 1966, thousands of people had been evicted from District Six, a multiracial area in central Cape Town, and dumped on the barren wastelands of the Cape Flats. In May 1966, anti-apartheid activist Bram Fischer was sentenced to life in prison for his work with the African National Congress (ANC) and its military wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation), and the South African Communist Party. A month later, U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy toured the country, speaking out against apartheid, meeting with ANC president-general Albert Luthuli, and criticizing the govern- ment in a historic speech at the University of Cape Town. In July 1966, the government banned nearly one thousand people under the Suppres- sion of Communism Act and the Riotous Assemblies Act. -
Southern Sheriffs of the Twentieth Century
W&M ScholarWorks Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects 2003 "Caretakers of the Color Line": Southern Sheriffs of the Twentieth Century Grace Earle Hill College of William & Mary - Arts & Sciences Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd Part of the Criminology Commons, International and Area Studies Commons, and the United States History Commons Recommended Citation Hill, Grace Earle, ""Caretakers of the Color Line": Southern Sheriffs of the Twentieth Century" (2003). Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects. Paper 1539626415. https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.21220/s2-st0q-g532 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects at W&M ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects by an authorized administrator of W&M ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. “CARETAKERS OF THE COLOR LINE”: SOUTHERN SHERIFFS OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of the Department of History The College of William and Mary in Virginia In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts by Grace E. Hill 2003 APPROVAL SHEET This thesis is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts J Grace E. Hill Approved, June 2003 Judith Ewell Cindy Hahamo vitch Cam Walker TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Abstract iv Introduction 2 Part I. Southern Sheriffs: Central Figures in Southern Racial History 8 Part II. Activism: Exposing and Challenging Southern Sheriffs’ Power 28 Part III. Sheriff Lawrence Rainey and Sheriff Jim Clark: 42 The Battle for Voting Rights in Mississippi and Alabama Part IV. -
Mississippi: Is This America? (1962-1964) ROY WILKINS
Mississippi: Is This America? (1962-1964) ROY WILKINS: There is no state with a record that approaches that of Mississippi in inhumanity, murder and brutality and racial hatred. It is absolutely at the bottom of the list. NARRATOR: In 1964, the state of Mississippi called it an invasion. Civil rights workers called it Freedom Summer. To change Mississippi and the country, they would risk beatings, arrest, and their lives. FANNY CHANEY: You all know what my child is doing? He was trying for us all to make a better living. And he had two fellows from New York, had their own home and everything, didn't have nothing to worry, but they come here to help us. Did you all know they come here to help us? They died for us. UNITA BLACKWELL: People like myself, I was born on this river. And I love the land. It's the delta, and to me it's now a challenge, it's history, it's everything, to what black people it's all about. We came about slavery and this is where we acted it out, I suppose. All of the work, all them hard works and all that. But we put in our blood, sweat and tears and we love the land. This is Mississippi. WHITE HUNTER: I lived in this delta all my life, my parents before me, 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 lived close to them all my life. -
Emmett Till Cold Case Investigation and Training and Technical Assistance Program” Hosted by the Bureau of Justice Assistance
MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: Good afternoon everybody and welcome to today's webinar “Emmett Till Cold Case Investigation and Training and Technical Assistance Program” hosted by the Bureau of Justice Assistance. At this time, I'd like to introduce today's presenters: Elizabeth Griffith, Associate Deputy Director with the Bureau of Justice Assistance; Barbara Kay Bosserman, Deputy Chief of the Cold Case Unit and Senior Legal Counsel with the U.S. Department of Justice; LaShunda Williams, Supervisory Special Agent Civil Rights Division within the Bureau of—in the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and Gerri Ratliff, Acting Director for Community Relations Service within the Department of Justice. At this time I'm going to turn the presentation over to Betsi Griffith. ELIZABETH GRIFFITH: Good afternoon and thank you. I'm Betsi Griffith from the Bureau of Justice Assistance. I just want to lay out here the agenda for today. We're going to spend a little bit of time talking about the agency who's offering this opportunity, the Bureau of Justice Assistance where I work, talk a little bit about the particular opportunity including eligibility and grant-related information, and some background on how we review our applications to assist you in applying. This project has—is really building on the foundation of some tremendous work that's been happening across the Department over the last decade so I really want to turn it over to subject matter expertise that can kind of give you that context and are available to work with sites that receive funding or generally have an interest in this work so I wanted you all to be aware of that, and then we'll close with a few minutes around, you know, just logistics of both things that we've learned from experience you want to keep an eye out for as you apply as well as to talk briefly about our new Grants Management System, and answer question and—answer any questions you have. -
Expanding the Table for Racial Equity~
Putting Racism on the Table ~Expanding the Table for Racial Equity~ Civil Rights Learning Journey September 23 – 27, 2018 Memphis, TN Birmingham, AL Join us on a journey through history. Throughout the Putting Racism on the Table series, we will underscore the importance of understanding the history of race in America. You are invited to explore history first‐ hand on a learning journey through the South. This is an opportunity to build a deeper understanding of the movement for civil rights and racial justice in America. Over the course of 3.5 days, we will visit major museums, houses of worship that played significant roles in the activism of the 1960s, and sites of key protests. We will meet individuals who were leaders on the ground in the 1960s and those who are pushing for change today. Details Cost: $3,500/per person Included: All site fees; single‐occupancy hotel room each night; all meals (except Sunday & Tuesday dinners); transportation to Birmingham‐Shuttlesworth International Airport Not included: Airfare to Memphis & from Birmingham; transportation from Memphis International Airport; Sunday & Tuesday dinners Registration & Payment Deadline: July 2. Please see page 8 for our cancellation policy. Questions? Contact Rebekah Seder, [email protected] 1 Sunday, September 23, 2018 12:00‐5:00 pm: INDIVIDUAL ARRIVALS VIA MEMPHIS INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (MEM) (Memphis, TN) Early arrivals have the option to enjoy a number of Memphis attractions. Music lovers, head to Beale Street for live Delta Blues, or tour Elvis Presley’s Graceland or Sun Records. Memphis may be known for its great BBQ, but there are a variety of southern dishes to enjoy close to the hotel. -
James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner
The Aftermath 0. The Aftermath - Story Preface 1. The Way We Were 2. Freedom Riders 3. Michael Schwerner 4. Andrew Goodman 5. James Chaney 6. Training for Confrontation 7. The Stage is Set 8. The Attack 9. The Aftermath A lot more violence was recorded and photographed by reporters during the summer of 1964. For a hundred years, equality for blacks in the South was law on paper, but not in reality. It tragically took the murder of Northern white civil rights workers in Mississippi to arouse the anger of Americans throughout the country. The deaths of these three men forced politicians and ordinary citizens alike from all corners of the nation to fight for the civil rights for all men. J.E. Chaney, age 21, Andy Goodman, age 20, and Mickey Schwerner, age 24, each walked different life paths that led them to be together in Mississippi that night. Each had his own reasons for being there. Each of them took a stand. None of them was allowed to accomplish much, but because of them, a nation took up the work they left undone. At Andy Goodman's funeral, his father had these words: Our grief, though personal, belongs to the nation. This tragedy is not private. It is part of the public conscience of our country. See Alignments to State and Common Core standards for this story online at: http://www.awesomestories.com/asset/AcademicAlignment/The-Aftermath-James-Chaney-Andrew-Goodman-and- Michael-Schwerner-Courageous-Mission See Learning Tasks for this story online at: http://www.awesomestories.com/asset/AcademicActivities/The-Aftermath-James-Chaney-Andrew-Goodman-and-M ichael-Schwerner-Courageous-Mission Media Stream Southern Justice "Southern Justice",Norman Rockwell painting of the Meridian murders.,Jackson Free Press,Fair Use View this asset at: http://www.awesomestories.com/asset/view/Southern-Justice. -
Working for Justice in Neshoba County, Mississippi: Andy Sheldon
THE JURY EXPERT Working for Justice in Neshoba County, Mississippi: Andy Sheldon and Beth Bonora discuss trial consulting in this landmark case by Beth Foley “Neshoba: The Price of Freedom,” is a newly released documentary by Micki Dickoff and Tony Pagano that focuses on one of the most notorious crimes of the Civil Rights Era and the long road to justice that followed. The case of Mississippi v. Edgar Ray Killen is about three young men murdered in Mississippi in 1964 James Chaney, a 20-year-old black Mississippian, and Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, two white New Yorkers, also in their early 20s disappeared in Neshoba County, Mississippi. The young men were spending their summer working to register African Americans to vote. Six long weeks later their bodies were found in a mud dam on the property of Olen Burrage. Goodman and Schwerner had been shot. Chaney, the young black man, was also shot, but only after he was beaten, tortured and mutilated. Although the F.B.I. and the Justice Department won a handful of convictions, and light sentences, on federal civil rights charges a few years later against some of the men involved with the murders, no state charges, for murder or anything else, were brought until 2005. Finally, in 2005 Edgar Ray Killen, the 80-year-old preacher and sawmill operator long believed to have been one of the main organizers of the killings was brought to justice and convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to prison. The documentary tells the story of these murders, from black and white members of the Philadelphia Coalition, a dedicated group of citizens who push to make sure the truth about that fateful night is told and pressure Mississippi state officials to bring the murderers to justice. -
Neshoba: the Price of Freedom
A film by Micki Dickoff and Tony Pagano 87 mins, 2010 DigiBeta, Stereo, 4:3 First Run Features (212) 243-0600/Fax (212) 989-7649 Website: www.firstrunfeatures.com Email: [email protected] PRAISE FOR NESHOBA: THE PRICE OF FREEDOM ““Fascinating and troubling… history is richly present in Neshoba , (yet) it is not only of historical interest. It was a Mississippi writer, after all, who observed that ‘the past isn’t dead. It isn’t even past.’ This film is a document of hope, progress and idealism but also a reminder that the deep springs of bigotry and violence that fed a long, vicious campaign of domestic terrorism have not dried up.”” – A.O. Scott, The New York Times "A film about fiery passions and murderous deeds that is disturbing in ways that go beyond what might be expected." -Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times “Potent…Riveting!" - Dennis Harvey, Variety FOUR STARS! “ Neshoba reopens the debate: How was this allowed to happen? How do we move forward? Some questions, this compelling movie reminds us, still require answers.” -S. James Snyder, Time Out New York CRITICS’ PICK! “Seriously disturbing…gains raw power thanks to unrepentant racist Edgar Ray Killen’s unlikely cooperation with the film.” –New York Magazine “This is a superb and intelligent film that brought an awaking to me of a problem that has never been addressed correctly.” -Gerald Wright Rotten Tomatoes "Masterful!" - Ernest Hardy, The Village Voice “Provides a fresh perspective on history”- Nora Lee Mandel, Film-Forward FOUR STARS! “Reveals that although many have belatedly come to embrace the notion of universal brotherhood, some still remain inveterate racists willing to go their graves waving the flag of intolerance.” –Kam Williams, Newsblaze “The tools used to tell the tale (newsreels, family photos, crime scene and autopsy photos) are masterfully employed.