Episode Summary
“Mississippi—Is This America?” is the fifth episode in the 14-hour documentary “Eyes on the Prize,” written and narrated by Henry Hampton and Julian Bond, respectively. The documentary addresses various topics, all intended to highlight the history of U.S. civil rights from 1954 to 1965. The episode opens with Roy Wilkins’ bold statement that Mississippi is one of the states in the U.S. where murder, racial hatred, and brutality are common (7eventytimes7, 2016).
Towards the end of the episode, the audience realizes that Wilkin’s sentiments were based on several unsolved murder cases, including the likes of Schwerner, Goodman, and Chaney. These murder cases are further described as cold and deliberate killings that should only occur in an uncivilized state.
One of the main goals of this episode was to show how a larger percentage of the Mississippi white population was highly committed to violence. The assassination of Evers and the later discovery of Goodman and Chaney’s bodies hidden in an earthen dam were a clear indication of how widespread the murder cases had become. The narrator went a step further, stating that most civil rights leaders and other sympathetic whites would travel for miles south to “see firsthand the state called closed society” (7eventytimes7, 2016, 00:20).
A closed society was used metaphorically to show how white Mississippians were quick to defend white supremacy against any social change. Overall, the aim of Mississippi’s grassroots civil rights movement, adopted in 1964, was to ensure that a larger percentage of African Americans were registered to vote within Mississippi.
Reflection
The Freedom Movement as a Struggle Against Systemic Oppression
After watching the episode several times, I felt sad upon realizing how little human life meant back then. This explains why the Freedom Movement was more than just a fight between blacks and whites – it was, rather, a struggle against oppression. In fact, the systems of governance put in place were only intended to ensure the oppressed remain segregated. Several civil rights movements united to advocate for the rights of marginalized individuals.
Voter Registration and Student Activism During Freedom Summer
By organizing mock voter registration and elections among African Americans, the movement demonstrated why everyone should have the right to vote, regardless of their race or color. College students played a critical role in registering black voters and, at the same time, organizing peaceful demonstrations that intensified the fight for civil rights. However, the fact that several activists were murdered while championing equal rights made me feel sad.
The involvement of the white college students in black voter registration made me think about July 2, when President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act into law. The Act’s primary objective was to prevent discrimination in public places, facilitate the integration of schools and other public facilities, and prohibit employee discrimination. The Mississippi leadership responded by supporting voter registration, particularly for African Americans.
The Cost of Civil Rights Advocacy
However, as evidenced in the episode, the exercise was marred by violence. The title of the episode is a rhetorical question that stresses the concept that Mississippi was a violent and racist state. The title also reminds the audience that, although the state was among the most distinctive in the South, the challenges the people encountered were a matter of national concern.
Challenging Jim Crow Laws and Building Grassroots Institutions
Initially, I was aware of the Freedom Summer movement, whose main aim was to challenge Jim Crow. For clarity, Jim Crow laws saw many African Americans “relegated to the status of second-class citizens” – the laws “represented the legitimization of anti-black racism” (Sanders et al., 2018, p. 22). Based on prior knowledge of Mississippi, the Freedom Summer was intended to draw the country’s attention to the violence and oppression against blacks.
The Lasting Impact of Freedom Summer on Civil Rights Reform
As a project, the Freedom Summer helped establish a grassroots freedom movement that could continue to protect the constitutional rights of African Americans even after student activists had left Mississippi. Jim Crow laws were used to restrict African Americans from voting due to the many requirements associated with voter registration. The Freedom Movement project ultimately established several Freedom Houses, schools, and community centers at the local level to support the Black population.
Despite the many projects initiated by the Freedom Movement, one thing that surprised me while watching the documentary was the challenges college students and activists faced. For instance, James Chaney, Michael Schwerner, and Andrew Goodman were murdered due to their involvement in the investigation of the burning of Mt. Zion Methodist Church. The three were killed as they tried to defend the rights of all, including the Black population.
According to Roy Wilkins, the murder of the three activists shows the social injustices that were dominant in Mississippi. “There is no state with a record that approaches that of Mississippi in inhumanity, murder, and brutality and racial hatred”. Overall, although the project only registered a low number of African Americans, it helped end the Jim Crow laws of segregating African Americans.
References
7eventytimes7. (2016). Eyes On The Prize – (Part 5) Mississippi Is This America 1962 1964. YouTube.
Sanders, R., Stovall, D., & White, T. (2018). Twenty-first-century Jim Crow Schools: The impact of charters on public education. Beacon Press.