DOCSLIB.ORG

Station 1: the Freedom Summer Project

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Station 1: the Freedom Summer Project Station 1: The Freedom Summer Project The Freedom Summer was a nonviolent effort by civil rights activists to integrate Mississippi's segregated political system during 1964. Planning began late in 1963 when the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) decided to recruit several hundred northern college students, mostly white, to work in Mississippi during the summer. They helped African-American residents try to register to vote, establish a new political party, and learn about history and politics in newly-formed Freedom Schools. Because black Mississippians were barred from Democratic Party primaries and caucuses, they challenged the right of the Party's all-white delegation to represent the state at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in August. Because black Mississippi residents were not allowed to vote, they held a parallel "Freedom Election" in November and challenged the right of the all-white Mississippi congressional delegation to represent the state in Washington in January 1965. Residents and volunteers were met by extraordinary violence, including murders, bombings, kidnappings, and torture. Much of this was covered on national television and focused the country's attention on civil rights issues for the first time. Why Did Freedom Summer Happen? For nearly a century, segregation had prevented most African-Americans in Mississippi from voting or holding public office. Segregated housing, schools, workplaces, and public accommodations denied black Mississippians access to political or economic power. Most lived in dire poverty, indebted to white banks or plantation owners and kept in check by police and white supremacy groups such as the Ku Klux Klan. African-Americans who dared to challenge these conditions were often killed, tortured, raped, beaten, arrested, fired from their jobs, or evicted from their homes. SNCC and CORE leaders believed that bringing well-connected white volunteers from northern colleges to Mississippi would expose these conditions. They hoped that media attention would make the federal government enforce civil rights laws that local officials ignored. They also planned to help black Mississippians organize a new political party that would be ready to compete against the mainstream Democratic Party after voting rights had been won. Who Participated in Freedom Summer? More than 60,000 black Mississippi residents risked their lives to attend local meetings, choose candidates, and vote in a "Freedom Election" that ran parallel to the regular 1964 national elections. Several hundred African-American families also hosted northern volunteers in their homes. Nearly 1,500 volunteers worked in project offices scattered across Mississippi. Most volunteers were white students from northern colleges, but 254 were clergy sponsored by the National Council of Churches, 169 were attorneys recruited by the National Lawyers Guild and the Lawyers Constitutional Defense Committee, and 50 were medical professionals from the Medical Committee for Human Rights. What Were the Goals for Freedom Summer? Its overarching goal was to empower local residents to participate in local, state, and national elections. Its other main goal was to focus the nation's attention on conditions in Mississippi. Specific goals for the summer included: Increase Voter Registration Organizers wanted as many black Mississippians as possible to try to join the voter rolls. They correctly assumed that the majority would be denied the right to vote and that this injustice could be widely exposed. Create the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP) Because officials prevented most blacks from registering to vote or participating in the regular Democratic Party, organizers tried to create a separate party and hold a parallel election. Challenge the Democratic National Committee (DNC) At the Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey, the MFDP contested the right of the white-supremacist delegation to represent Mississippi. They challenged it on the grounds that black residents had been systematically excluded from party meetings and primaries at which the delegates were chosen. Set Up Freedom Schools Schools were established in local churches, storefronts, and other buildings so children and adults could learn black history, social studies, reading, and math, as well as develop leadership skills. Open Community Centers These were opened in existing buildings or new ones erected from scratch in order to provide child care, library books, meals, medical assistance, and other services denied to segregated black neighborhoods. Hold a Freedom Vote Since black residents couldn't vote in the regular election for president and local offices, organizers conducted a parallel election in which all residents could participate. It was scheduled just before the segregated regular election held on November 3, 1964. Challenge Exclusionary Congressional Elections After the all-white winners of the regular election were sent to Washington, D.C., the MFDP challenged their right to take seats in Congress because black residents had been systematically excluded from the electoral process. Who Opposed Freedom Summer? A number of groups opposed the project. Officials in Mississippi at all levels denounced the Summer Project. Its senators and governor publicly refused to obey federal integration laws, the state police nearly doubled in size, legislators passed new laws prohibiting picketing and leafleting, and local sheriffs and police chiefs expanded their forces and acquired new weapons. Businesses banded together in white Citizens Councils to coordinate punishment of African-Americans who participated in Freedom Summer. They foreclosed mortgages on black residents' homes, fired workers from jobs, banned customers from shopping in stores, and shut down food pantries for the poor. Groups such as the Ku Klux Klan inflicted violence on black residents and civil rights workers. Between June 16 and September 30, 1964, there were at least 6 murders, 29 shootings, 50 bombings, more than 60 beatings, and over 400 arrests of project workers and local residents. What Did Freedom Summer Accomplish? On the project's first day, June 21, three workers (James Chaney, Mickey Schwerner and Andrew Goodman) were kidnapped and murdered. Americans all around the country were shocked by the killing of civil rights workers and the brutality they witnessed on their televisions. The MFDP convention drew hundreds of people and successfully launched the new party. Its delegates to the Democratic National Convention in August, however, were not recognized by party leaders and were not allowed to take seats.More than 40 Freedom Schools opened in 20 communities. More than 2,000 students enrolled in classes led by 175 teachers. During the unofficial Freedom Vote held October 31- November 2, more than 62,000 people cast ballots despite shootings, beatings, intimidation, and arrests. In most counties, Freedom Voters outnumbered regular Democratic Party voters. By the fall of 1964, many organizers and activists had become disillusioned. The brutality of the white power structure convinced some civil rights workers that nonviolence had failed. The refusal of the U.S. government to enforce its own civil rights laws disillusioned those who had hoped for federal intervention. This persuaded many activists around the nation that traditional politics would not secure basic civil rights. Some national leaders, such as Malcolm X and Stokely Carmichael, therefore began to urge African- Americans to seize their rights "by any means necessary." This sentiment helped create the Black Power Movement and organizations such as the Black Panthers. What Happened After Freedom Summer? Freedom Summer raised the consciousness of millions of people to the plight of African-Americans and the need for change. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 passed Congress in part because lawmakers' constituents had been educated about these issues during Freedom Summer. Mississippi's black residents gained organizing skills and political experience. By the end of 1966, more than half of African-Americans in southern states had registered to vote. In the years that followed, many were elected to local offices such as mayors, school boards, and chiefs of police.In later years, when the federal government finally sent dozens of officials into local courthouses to enable African-Americans to vote and run for office, they were prepared to take part in the political process. Source:http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Content.aspx?dsNav=N:4294963828- 4294963805&dsRecordDetails=R:CS3707 http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/the-mississippi-freedom-summer-project/ 6 minute Walter Cronkite news clip (from 1964) about the Freedom Summer Station 3: The Civil Rights Act of 1964 & The Voting Rights Act of 1965 In a nationally televised address on June 6, 1963, President John F. Kennedy urged the nation to take action toward guaranteeing equal treatment of every American regardless of race. Soon after, Kennedy proposed that Congress consider civil rights legislation that would address voting rights, public accommodations, school desegregation, nondiscrimination in federally assisted programs, and more. Despite Kennedy’s assassination in November of 1963, his proposal culminated in the Civil Rights Act of 1964, signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson just a few hours after House approval on July 2, 1964. The act outlawed segregation in businesses
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Witness for Freedom: Curriculum Guide for Using Primary Documents
    WITNESS FOR FREEDOM A Curriculum Guide for Using Primary Documents to teach Abolitionist History By Wendy Kohler and Gaylord Saulsberry Published by The Five College Public School Partnership 97 Spring Street, Amherst, MA 01002 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The Witness for Freedom project began in 1995 with the vision of Christine Compston, then Director of the National History Education Network. She approached Mary Alice Wilson at the Five College Public School Partnership with the idea of developing an institute for social studies teachers that would introduce them to the documents recently published by C. Peter Ripley in Witness for Freedom: African American Voices on Race, Slavery, and Emancipation. Together they solicited the participation of David Blight, Professor of History at Amherst College, and author of Frederick Douglass’ Civil War: Keeping Faith in Jubilee. The Witness for Freedom Summer Institute was held in 1996 under their direction and involved twenty teachers from Western Massachusetts. The project was made possible by a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission of the National Archives with additional support from the Nan and Matilda Heydt Fund of the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts. The publication of this guide by Wendy Kohler and Gaylord Saulsberry of the Amherst Public Schools offers specific guidance for Massachusetts teachers and district personnel concerned with aligning classroom instruction with the state curriculum frameworks. The Five College Public School Partnership thanks all of the above for their involvement in this project. Additional copies of this guide and the Witness for Freedom Handbook for Professional Development are available from the Five College Public School Partnership, 97 Spring Street, Amherst, MA 01002.
    [Show full text]
  • Remembering the Struggle for Civil Rights – the Greenwood Sites
    rallied a crowd of workers set up shop in a building that stood Union Grove M.B. Church protestors in this park on this site. By 1963, local participation in 615 Saint Charles Street with shouts of “We Civil Rights activities was growing, accel- Union Grove was the first Baptist church in want black power!” erated by the supervisors’ decision to halt Greenwood to open its doors to Civil Rights Change Began Here Greenwood was the commodity distribution. The Congress of activities when it participated in the 1963 midpoint of James Racial Equality (CORE), Council of Federated Primary Election Freedom Vote. Comedian GREENWOOD AND LEFLORE COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI Meredith’s “March Organizations (COFO), Southern Christian and activist Dick Gregory spoke at the church Against Fear” from Memphis to Jackson. in the spring of that year as part of his cam- Carmichael and two other marchers had paign to provide food and clothing to those been arrested for pitching tents on a school left in need after Leflore County Supervisors Birth of a Movement campus. By the time they were bailed out, discontinued federal commodities distribution. “In the meetings everything--- more than 600 marchers and local people uncertainty, fear, even desperation--- had gathered in the park, and Carmichael St. Francis Center finds expression, and there is comfort seized the moment to voice the “black 709 Avenue I power” slogan, which fellow SNCC worker This Catholic Church structure served as a and sustenance in talkin‘ ‘bout it.” Willie Ricks had originated. hospital for blacks and a food distribution – Michael Thelwell, SNCC Organizer center in the years before the Civil Rights First SNCC Office Movement.
    [Show full text]
  • Exemplary Online Information Literacy Courses at Selected Four-Year Colleges and Universities
    Exemplary online information literacy courses at selected four-year colleges and universities by Gloria Creed-Dikeogu B.Bibl., University of Cape Town, South Africa, 1986 H.D.E: PG (Sec.), University of Cape Town, South Africa, 1988 M.L.S., Emporia State University, 1999 MAHR, Ottawa University, Kansas City, 2006 M.B.A., Ottawa University, Kansas City, 2008 AN ABSTRACT OF A DISSERTATION submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Curriculum and Instruction College of Education KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY Manhattan, Kansas 2017 Abstract Twenty three in-depth qualitative telephone interviews were conducted in this multiple case study with instruction librarians at eight four-year colleges and universities. Snowball sampling was used to select instruction librarian, information literacy department head and administration participants employed at institutions recognized by Association of College and Research Libraries for exemplary information literacy best practices: information programs. The questions researched in this dissertation were: How are selected four-year colleges implementing exemplary information literacy courses? How do exemplary four-year college library information literacy courses implement the Association of College and Research Libraries Framework for Information Literacy in Higher Education (2016)? How do exemplary four-year colleges and universities implement digital literacy and the six frames of the Association of College and Research Libraries Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education (2016)? The Association of College and Research Libraries Standards (2000) and the Framework for information literacy for higher education (2016) were used as a foundation for this study. A conceptual framework was built in this study around information literacy historical underpinnings and five major national educational reports that were submitted to Congress between 1983 and 1989.
    [Show full text]
  • Freedom Teachers : Northern White Women Teaching in Southern Black Communities, 1860'S and 1960'S
    University of Massachusetts Amherst ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014 1-1-2001 Freedom teachers : Northern White women teaching in Southern Black communities, 1860's and 1960's. Judith C. Hudson University of Massachusetts Amherst Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_1 Recommended Citation Hudson, Judith C., "Freedom teachers : Northern White women teaching in Southern Black communities, 1860's and 1960's." (2001). Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014. 5562. https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_1/5562 This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014 by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. For more information, please contact [email protected]. FREEDOM TEACHERS: NORTHERN WHITE WOMEN TEACHING IN SOUTHERN BLACK COMMUNITIES, 1860s AND 1960s A Dissertation Presented by JUDITH C. HUDSON Submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Massachusetts Amherst in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF EDUCATION May 2001 Social Justice Education Program © Copyright by Judith C. Hudson 2001 All Rights Reserved FREEDOM TEACHERS: NORTHERN WHITE WOMEN TEACHING IN SOUTHERN BLACK COMMUNITIES, 1860s AND 1960s A Dissertation Presented by JUDITH C. HUDSON Approved as to style and content by: Maurianne Adams, Chair ()pMyu-cAI oyLi Arlene Voski Avakian, Member ACKNOWLEDGMENTS . I would like to acknowledge the financial support of the American Association of University Women. I received a Career Development Grant which allowed me, on a full¬ time basis, to begin my doctoral study of White women’s anti-racism work.
    [Show full text]
  • Viewer's Guide
    SELMA T H E BRIDGE T O T H E BALLOT TEACHING TOLERANCE A PROJECT OF THE SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER VIEWER’S GUIDE GRADES 6-12 Selma: The Bridge to the Ballot is the story of a courageous group of Alabama students and teachers who, along with other activists, fought a nonviolent battle to win voting rights for African Americans in the South. Standing in their way: a century of Jim Crow, a resistant and segregationist state, and a federal govern- ment slow to fully embrace equality. By organizing and marching bravely in the face of intimidation, violence, arrest and even murder, these change-makers achieved one of the most significant victories of the civil rights era. The 40-minute film is recommended for students in grades 6 to 12. The Viewer’s Guide supports classroom viewing of Selma with background information, discussion questions and lessons. In Do Something!, a culminating activity, students are encouraged to get involved locally to promote voting and voter registration. For more information and updates, visit tolerance.org/selma-bridge-to-ballot. Send feedback and ideas to [email protected]. Contents How to Use This Guide 4 Part One About the Film and the Selma-to-Montgomery March 6 Part Two Preparing to Teach with Selma: The Bridge to the Ballot 16 Part Three Before Viewing 18 Part Four During Viewing 22 Part Five After Viewing 32 Part Six Do Something! 37 Part Seven Additional Resources 41 Part Eight Answer Keys 45 Acknowledgements 57 teaching tolerance tolerance.org How to Use This Guide Selma: The Bridge to the Ballot is a versatile film that can be used in a variety of courses to spark conversations about civil rights, activism, the proper use of government power and the role of the citizen.
    [Show full text]
  • SCLC Places Archive at Emory Historical Records to Become Destination for Civil Rights Research
    March 6, 2008 Contact: Elaine Justice of Emory University, 404-727-0643, [email protected] Contact: Keisha Ray of SCLC, 404-522-1420 ext. 23, [email protected] For Immediate Release SCLC Places Archive at Emory Historical Records to Become Destination for Civil Rights Research Emory University and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) announced March 6 that the SCLC has placed its archive with Emory's Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library (MARBL). "Emory is delighted to care for, catalog and share this unique intellectual resource with visitors from around the city and the world," says Emory Provost Earl Lewis. "SCLC played a signal role in the nation's struggles over civil rights. By helping to preserve that legacy we honor the past by connecting it to the present and the future." "Placing the SCLC archive with Emory ensures that the organization's materials will enrich understanding of history, culture and non-violence for generations to come," says SCLC President Charles Steele. The SCLC was co-founded in New Orleans, La., on Feb. 14, 1957, by Martin Luther King, Jr. and other African American leaders from across the South with the purpose of advancing the cause of racial equality. Its archive, contained in 1,100 boxes, is the second-largest collection placed with MARBL, surpassed in size only by the Sam Nunn congressional archive. The bulk of the SCLC materials date from 1968 to 1977, during the terms of SCLC's two longest-serving presidents: Ralph David Abernathy and Joseph Lowery. SCLC Archive Photos Document Civil Rights Movement Included in the archive are correspondence; press releases, speeches and other SCLC staff writings; SCLC publications; membership records; clippings and other collected print materials; photographs; audio cassette tapes; and videotapes.
    [Show full text]
  • 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.
    [Show full text]
  • Freedom Summer
    MISSISSIPPI BURNING THE FREEDOM SUMMER OF 1964 Prepared by Glenn Oney For Teaching American History The Situation • According to the Census, 45% of Mississippi's population is Black, but in 1964 less than 5% of Blacks are registered to vote state-wide. • In the rural counties where Blacks are a majority — or even a significant minority — of the population, Black registration is virtually nil. The Situation • For example, in some of the counties where there are Freedom Summer projects (main project town shown in parenthesis): Whites Blacks County (Town) Number Eligible Number Voters Percentage Number Eligible Number Voters Percentage Coahoma (Clarksdale) 5338 4030 73% 14004 1061 8% Holmes (Tchula) 4773 3530 74% 8757 8 - Le Flore (Greenwood) 10274 7168 70% 13567 268 2% Marshall (Holly Spgs) 4342 4162 96% 7168 57 1% Panola (Batesville) 7369 5309 69% 7250 2 - Tallahatchie (Charleston) 5099 4330 85% 6438 5 - Pike (McComb) 12163 7864 65% 6936 150 - Source: 1964 MFDP report derived from court cases and Federal reports. The Situation • To maintain segregation and deny Blacks their citizenship rights — and to continue reaping the economic benefits of racial exploitation — the white power structure has turned Mississippi into a "closed society" ruled by fear from the top down. • Rather than mechanize as other Southern states have done, much of Mississippi agriculture continues to rely on cheap Black labor. • But with the rise of the Freedom Movement, the White Citizens Council is now urging plantation owners to replace Black sharecroppers and farm hands with machines. • This is a deliberate strategy to force Blacks out of the state before they can achieve any share of political power.
    [Show full text]
  • James Forman Papers [Finding Aid]. Library of Congress
    James Forman Papers A Finding Aid to the Collection in the Library of Congress Manuscript Division, Library of Congress Washington, D.C. 2014 Revised 2014 December Contact information: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mss.contact Additional search options available at: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.ms010125 LC Online Catalog record: http://lccn.loc.gov/mm2007085371 Prepared by Connie L. Cartledge with the assistance of Tracey Barton, Maria Farmer, Sherralyn McCoy, Dan Oleksiw, and Carolyn Ray Revised and expanded by Connie L. Cartledge Collection Summary Title: James Forman Papers Span Dates: 1848-2005 Bulk Dates: (bulk 1961-2001) ID No.: MSS85371 Creator: Forman, James, 1928-2005 Extent: 79,000 items ; 255 containers plus 2 oversize ; 100.2 linear feet ; 1 digital file (1.09 MB) Language: Collection material in English, French, and Spanish Location: Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. Summary: Author, journalist, and civil rights activist. Correspondence, memoranda, diaries, subject files, speeches and writings, family papers, appointment books and calendars, and other papers relating primarily to Forman's activities as executive secretary of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and president of the Unemployment and Poverty Action Committee. Selected Search Terms The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Library's online catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically therein. People Al-Amin, Jamil, 1943- Belafonte, Harry, 1927- --Correspondence. Bellamy, Fay--Correspondence. Braden, Anne, 1924-2006--Correspondence. Carmichael, Stokely--Correspondence. Carmichael, Stokely. Clinton, Bill, 1946- --Correspondence.
    [Show full text]
  • The Complex Relationship Between Jews and African Americans in the Context of the Civil Rights Movement
    The Gettysburg Historical Journal Volume 20 Article 8 May 2021 The Complex Relationship between Jews and African Americans in the Context of the Civil Rights Movement Hannah Labovitz Gettysburg College Follow this and additional works at: https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/ghj Part of the History Commons Share feedback about the accessibility of this item. Recommended Citation Labovitz, Hannah (2021) "The Complex Relationship between Jews and African Americans in the Context of the Civil Rights Movement," The Gettysburg Historical Journal: Vol. 20 , Article 8. Available at: https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/ghj/vol20/iss1/8 This open access article is brought to you by The Cupola: Scholarship at Gettysburg College. It has been accepted for inclusion by an authorized administrator of The Cupola. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Complex Relationship between Jews and African Americans in the Context of the Civil Rights Movement Abstract The Civil Rights Movement occurred throughout a substantial portion of the twentieth century, dedicated to fighting for equal rights for African Americans through various forms of activism. The movement had a profound impact on a number of different communities in the United States and around the world as demonstrated by the continued international attention marked by recent iterations of the Black Lives Matter and ‘Never Again’ movements. One community that had a complex reaction to the movement, played a major role within it, and was impacted by it was the American Jewish community. The African American community and the Jewish community were bonded by a similar exclusion from mainstream American society and a historic empathetic connection that would carry on into the mid-20th century; however, beginning in the late 1960s, the partnership between the groups eventually faced challenges and began to dissolve, only to resurface again in the twenty-first century.
    [Show full text]
  • With Determination and Fortitude We Come to Vote: Black Organization and Resistance to Voter Suppression in Mississippi
    WITH DETERMINATION AND FORTITUDE 195 With Determination and Fortitude We Come to Vote: Black Organization and Resistance to Voter Suppression in Mississippi by Michael Vinson Williams On July 2, 1946, brothers Medgar and Charles Evers, along with four friends, decided they would vote in their hometown of Decatur, Missis- sippi. Both brothers had registered without incident but when the men returned to cast their ballots they were met by a mob of armed whites. The confrontation grew in intensity with each step toward the polling place. After a few nerve-racking moments of yelling and shoving, the Evers group retreated, but the harassment did not end. Medgar Evers recalled that while they were walking away some of the whites followed them and that one man in a 1941 Ford “leaned out with a shotgun, keep- ing a bead on us all the time and we just had to walk slowly and wait for him to kill us …. They didn’t kill us but they didn’t end it, either.” The African American men went home, retrieved guns of their own, and returned to the polling station but decided to leave the weapons in the car. The white mob again prevented them from entering the voting precinct, and the would-be voters gave up.1 1 This article makes use of the many newspaper clippings catalogued in the Allen Eugene Cox Papers housed at the Mitchell Memorial Library Special Collections Department at Mississippi State University (Starkville) and the Trumpauer (Joan Harris) Civil Rights Scrapbooks Collection at the Mississippi Department of Archives and History in Jackson, Mississippi.
    [Show full text]
  • Download a Transcript of the Episode
    Scene on Radio Freedom Summer (Season 4, Episode 7) Transcript http://www.sceneonradio.org/s4-e7-freedom-summer/ John Biewen: A content warning: this episode includes descriptions of intense violence, and the use of a racial slur. Chenjerai Kumanyika: So John, when you look at history the way that we’re looking at it in this series, sometimes I start to get tempted to make really sloppy historical comparisons. You know what I mean? ‘Cause that’s easy to do. John Biewen: It is easy to do. What’s that expression: history doesn’t repeat itself, but it does often rhyme. And it’s easy to get carried away trying to hear those rhymes. Chenjerai Kumanyika: In the scholarly world, we learn to have nuance and not to do that, but, you know, sometimes, I myself have been guilty. I worked on this podcast, Uncivil, about the Civil War, and during that time I was like, everything is just like 1861. I would be at dinner parties and people are like Chenj, we get it, to 1 understand anything, like a movie–we have to go back to the 19th century, we understand. John Biewen: Yeah. Or, you know, the United States today is Germany 1933! Right? Well, maybe it is, somedays it seems to be, but yeah, you try not to get too carried away reading the newspaper every morning. Chenjerai Kumanyika: Absolutely. That said, I do think it’s really important to think about the themes and continuities and lessons that we can really learn from history. And today’s episode has me thinking about political parties, and this kinda never-ending struggle that they have between what gets called party “unity,” or maintaining a “big tent,” and then on the other hand really trying to stick to or imagine more ambitious or even radical policy positions that vulnerable groups within the base of the party care about.
    [Show full text]