Film Study Guide
HISTORICITY
Propelled by the pending Civil Rights Act in 1964, hundreds of inspired northern civil
rights activists invaded the South to persuade local blacks to register for the vote. The
legion of unwelcome outsiders descending upon Dixie inflamed many southerners who,
while conceding the nation-wide legislative power of Congress, held steadfast that voter
registration was nobody's business but their own. This quasi-Confederate attitude turned
into gruesome action when three such activists mysteriously disappeared late one June
evening on a backroad near the small Mississippi town of Philadelphia.
In June, the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and its affiliate, the Student Nonviolent
Coordinating Committee (SNCC), launched an ambitious campaign throughout the South
to conduct adult literacy classes and assist blacks in moving through the voter
registration process. Mississippi was designated to receive the thrust of "Freedom
Summer," as it came to be called. There was no tougher battleground than the Magnolia
State, both racially and economically. It was the poorest, most backward state in the
nation, historically notorious among the Deep South family for its refusal to accept black
equality in any manner whatsoever, not the least of which was the right to vote. Only five
percent of blacks living in Mississippi—which comprised over 40 percent of the state's
population—had managed to overcome the poll taxes, unfair literacy tests, and threats of
terror to register for the vote. It was the lowest such percentage in the country.
Mississippi's post-Reconstruction tradition of terror to maintain black subservience was
unparalleled. Between 1880 and 1940, nearly 600 blacks were lynched in Mississippi. No
measure of justice was exacted on behalf of the victims in any of these incidents—not only
were there no convictions or indictments, but astonishingly, not even a single arrest by
state law enforcement officials! As Mississippi's methodology proceeded unchecked,
blacks were subjected to exalted levels of intimidation—loss of jobs for fabricated
reasons, unjustified insurance cancellations, sudden jumps in loan interest rates,
immediate mortgage foreclosures, and when all else failed, downright violence and
unmerciful cruelty.
Among the nearly 1,000 Freedom Summer volunteers were Michael (Mickey) Schwerner
and Andrew Goodman, both white New Yorkers, and James Earl Chaney, a black from
Mississippi. Schwerner and Chaney were experienced CORE field workers; Goodman was
a relative newcomer, though he had previously participated in some civil rights
demonstrations in Washington and New York City. All three boys were in their early 20s.
Participants were repeatedly warned of the impending dangers awaiting them in
Mississippi. One of the leaders of the SNCC counseled the volunteers: "Mississippi is
unreal when you're not there, and the rest of the country is unreal when you are." Another
SNCC official issued a much more austere description of the raw conditions in the state:
"There's not even a sharp line between living and dying. It's just a thin fuzz."
Sam Bowers, Jr., Imperial Wizard of the White Knights, the most predacious Klan chapter
in the entire South, called on members to resist the Freedom Summer workers: "The
events which will occur in Mississippi this summer may well determine the fate of
Christian civilization for centuries to come." Bowers urged "counterattacks" against
"selected individual targets." As a precautionary measure, all workers were instructed to
phone their respective CORE offices at regular intervals.
On June 16, hooded White Knights turned Bowers's perscription for war into actual
bloodshed. They attacked the Mount Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church in
Longdale, a short distance east of Philadelphia. The Klansmen were reacting to reports
that the church would host a "freedom school" whereby the congregation would partake in
classes—literacy, arithmetic, politics, and history—as well as the county voter registration
drive. The assailants were actually hunting for a white northern activist known as "Goatee"
who had met previously with church members to initiate the campaign and was believed to
be present that day to organize further. The targeted activist's absence did not dissuade
the rabid Kluxers from beating several of the parishioners and burning the church to the
ground. If the catch could not be made that day, at least some bait could be
The Longdale church arson was not an isolated incident. Some violence had already
occurred. There was plenty more to come. Over the summer, project workers suffered
1,000 arrests, 80 beatings, 35 shootings, and 30 bombings of homes, churches, and
schools. But the most despicable action occurred just a few days after the Mount Zion
Church attack.
On June 20, Schwerner, Goodman, and Chaney left the training center at Oxford, Ohio. No
doubt during the 16-hour drive to Meridian they talked about the good and the bad—the
Senate's approval of solid civil rights legislation a day earlier and the recent attack on the
church in Longdale. Weary from travel, but anxious to begin their work, the boys pulled
into Meridian during the early morning hours of June 21. They would not live to see
another sunrise.
After limited sleep and hasty breakfast, Schwerner, Goodman, and Chaney proceeded from
Meridian to nearby Longdale, where they surveyed the charred remains of the church and
questioned witnesses about the incident. On their way back to Meridian, while passing
through Philadelphia at about 3:00 in the afternoon, their blue Ford station wagon was
stopped by Neshoba County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Cecil Ray Price. The trio was arrested
on a flimsy speeding charge. In addition, Price informed them they were being held as
suspects in the Mount Zion Church arson! When the activists failed to call in by late
afternoon (they were denied use of the telephone), the Meridian CORE office suspected
foul play and telephoned the jail to inquire about them. Whoever answered the phone
(reports differ) denied any knowledge of the boys' whereabouts. The jailhouse was so
confined that almost certainly the boys would have overheard the conversation and if not
worried up until then, now had good reason to be anxious. At 6:00 that evening, the SNCC
state headquarters in Jackson contacted the FBI and the Mississippi Highway Patrol.
Released from the county jail late that night (they were fined $20 for the speeding
violation), the trio drove out of town toward Meridian on secluded Highway 19. The trap,
set while the boys were detained in jail, was about to slam shut. Along the way they were
again intercepted by Price, this time accompanied by two carloads of Klan coherts.
Initially, the boys sped hoping to escape the jursidiction of Price—the county line was only
about ten miles away—but for some unexplicable reason braked and surrendered. As Price
approached the vehicle, he said to Chaney, the driver, "I thought y'all were goin' back to
Meridian if we let y'all out of jail." When Chaney replied that is where they were headed,
Price said, "Y'all sure were takin' the long way 'round. Get out of the car." Chaney
recognized one of the men from Meridian. Expecting the worst, Chaney called him by name
and asked for his help, but to no avail. The boys were shoved into the back seat of Price's
patrol car, whereupon they were driven a short distance to an isolated spot known as Rock
Cut Road, just off the highway. The renegade party then did the unconscionable—
Schwerner, Goodman, and Chaney were all summarily shot at point-blank range.
The boys' bodies were tossed into their station wagon and transported to a farm about six
miles southwest of Philadelphia where a cattle pond was under construction. It was an
ideal place to dump the bodies, for as work on the site continued, more dirt would be piled
to create a dam, therefore effectively burying the bodies even deeper. The bulldozer was
there, but the operator did not arrive until two hours later. The conspirators made the best
of the unplanned lull—they celebrated their victory against the northern invaders by
consuming a gallon of corn whiskey. Once the bodies were covered over, the station
wagon was driven to Bogue Chitto Swamp, roughly 15 miles northeast of Philadelphia. The
car was doused with diesel fuel and burned, then disposed of under the water.
From there, the Klansmen departed to assemble again on the courthouse square in
Philadelphia, where they were met by a Mississippi government official. He congratulated
them on a job well done: "You've struck a blow for the white man. Mississippi can be
proud of you. You've let those agitatin' outsiders know where this state stands." He then
bound them to absolute secrecy with a stern warning: "The first man who talks is dead,
dead, dead...just as dead as we killed those three sonsofbitches tonight." It was now just
before dawn, and the conspirators, their grisly job accomplished, dispersed in the morning
sunrise like cockroaches gathered in a dark room when a light is switched on.
Of course, the speeding charge was nothing more than a guise—while Schwerner,
Goodman, and Chaney were detained in jail, the band of Klan hoodlums had ample time to
arrange their ambush. Meeting at a Meridian drive-in restaurant, job assignments were
issued, directions given, rendevous times coordinated. Three men were dispatched to
purchase gloves. Another was instructed to contact a local bulldozer operator. The burial
place and the vehicle disposal spot were strategically designated, figuring that law
enforcement authorities would look for the bodies in the water where the station wagon
would be found, sooner or later. Hence, the search for the bodies would begin a full 20
miles away from where they were buried.
On this night, the White Knights got the man they were aiming for when they stormed the
Longdale church a few days earlier. Schwerner had been an active CORE worker in
Mississippi for several months. His brazen attempts to challenge segregation and his open
disregard for local standards of appearance (he sported a short beard at a time when facial
hair was taboo in the South) had made "Goatee" a high profile symbol of the North's
unwanted interference with southern tradition. He had reportedly been on the Klan hit list
since March. Schwerner was the first to be yanked from the car. As he stood, a man with a
pistol approached him and asked, "Y'all still think a nigger's as good as I am?" Schwerner
was shot straight through the heart. He was married; his wife Rita was with him at the
Oxford training course and had accompanied him during his first visit to the Mount Zion
Church.
Goodman was the next victim. While it is conceivable the gang might have otherwise
spared the CORE rookie, his fate was sealed by virtue of his traveling companions.
According to some sources, Goodman was not originally scheduled to accompany
Schwerner and Chaney on the trip to Mississippi, but he persisted until the two others
agreed to take him along. Goodman, too, was shot square in the chest.
There was certainly no hesitation about killing Chaney, not only because of his color, but
his local civil rights record, as well. Chaney was a Meridian boy and had been instrumental
in convincing the Mount Zion parishioners to rally for the vote. He was known around the
area since his high school days as an outspoken black who was not afraid to rock the
Dixie boat. His familiarity with the area made him an important member of the CORE team.
Chaney suffered three gunshot wounds, the amount owing to either his color or a struggle,
or both. Whereas Schwerner and Goodman were killed promptly without any interrogation
or abuse, Chaney was beaten so heinously that numerous bones were broken before he
was shot. One of the bullet wounds entered through his back, indicating that Chaney
possibly broke loose and made a run for his life until halted by a gunman. Chaney left
behind a ten-day old daughter he never saw.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation immediately took charge of the case, assigning it the
code name of MIBURN. A horde of FBI agents searched the area and quizzed the local folk
for clues to the whereabouts of the missing activists. Some 400 sailors from the naval air
station at Meridian were brought in to fish the heighboring lakes and comb the countryside
for the bodies. The FBI dragged 50 miles of the Pearl River and marched in columns
through swamps teeming with venomous water moccasins, pesky chiggers, and biting
mosquitoes. The search crews discovered a number of corpses belonging to lynching
victims long missing (including that of a 14-year-old boy, wearing a CORE shirt, found
floating in the Big Black River), but not those Schwerner, Goodman, and Chaney.
The local citizens stonewalled the FBI. Some grumbled about the alleged murders being
nothing more than a CORE publicity stunt. There were murmurs that the three rabblerousers probably got what they deserved. Still others said they "heard" that the boys had
just decided to take off and go elsewhere. Certainly there were a few who sympathized
with the victims, but it was common knowledge that to offer any assistance in the
investigation would have invited trouble from the Klan, and everyone could plainly see
what that might result from that. FBI agents conducted 1,000 interviews. No one, white or
black, would break the silence.
DATA
The opening scene of Mississippi Burning shows the Klan murders of three young civil
rights activists on a dusty Mississippi road cloaked by darkness of night. The cool,
calculated manner in which the redneck murder squad commits the crimes is almost as
chilling as the murders themselves. That much of the movie is true. What follows is
considerable Hollywood free-lancing. The film casts Gene Hackman and Willem Dafoe as
FBI agents Anderson and Ward, respectively. Hackman is a former Mississippi sheriff;
Dafoe is a young northern moralist. Together, the pair doggedly pursue the perpetrators,
all the time struggling to find a workable arena between one agent's firsthand knowledge
of harsh southern reality and the other's spirited Kennedyesque idealism.
As one might guess, Mississippi Burning created some controversy. Surprisingly, some of
it came from the black community. In the film's opening scene, the two whites (aka Michael
Schwerner and Andrew Goodman) occupy the front seat of the station wagon while the
black passenger (aka James Earl Chaney) rides in the back seat. In 1964, Chaney was
behind the wheel, owing to his familiarity with the area. This discrepancy, which at first
seems but a minor factual flaw, is somewhat indicative of how the movie portrays much of
the black citizenry—as bewildered prey to all the arsons and beatings and lynchings that
fill the screen. The thinkers and doers seem to be mostly white, villains and heroes alike.
In reality, the South was full of black protagonists. Throughout the summer of 1964, rather
than bow to the widespread terrorism of the KKK, Mississippi blacks resolutely met at area
"freedom schools" like the Mount Zion Church in Longdale. One year after the incident,
85,000 black Mississippians courageously cast "freedom ballots" to show their
determination to exercise the vote if given the oppurtunity.
The movie would have its viewers believe the case was solved because of southern
integrity revived by a sympathetic female soul (Cecil Ray Price's wife, of all people,
provides crucial information to authorities) coupled with extra-legal pressure levied by the
FBI (a private black operative is whisked into town, in under cover of night, to goad the
mayor into betraying the killers). It makes a good story, but it just did not happen that way.
There was a guilty white conscience in Philadelphia that summer, but it was not the
deputy's wife. It was Florence Mars, a well-to-do white women who was one of the few
Philadelphians willing to testify against the Klan before the federal grand jury. (Although
she did not provide assistance during the investigation, she did speak out against the
murders, for which Mars was dismissed from her Sunday school teaching job.) After the
trial, she was subjected to bouts of harassment by both the Klan and Price's boss, Sheriff
Lawrence Rainey. In 1977, Mars authored a book entitled Witness in Philadelphia which
likened the silence of a southern community embroiled in its devilish work to that of Adolf
Hitler's Nazi Germany during World War II.
As for the real Mrs. Price, she claimed to have never so much as asked her husband about
what happened the night he accompanied the ambush party. When informed that
Mississippi Burning depicted her as a chief source who revealed important details of the
crime to the FBI (she was seduced into doing so), the deputy's wife dismissed it as "really
fictional."
And, no unscrupulous thug was imported to coax a confession for FBI agents. Instead, it
was the fear and greed of a Klan member that helped the Bureau solve the case. An
anonymous source pegged Philadelphia attorney Clayton Lewis as the informant. He
became the town's mayor one year after the murders and later served on the defense team
for the accused. Hence, Lewis profited twice from the killings. In depicting an FBI force so
zealous in its defense of black justice that it resorts to vigilante tactics, the movie creates
the impression that the FBI agents behaved like Agent Anderson/Hackman, rampaging
without constraint, like their enemy Kluxers, through the Deep South during the 1960s. In
truth, the FBI followed policy, as Agent Ward/Dafoe would have preferred.
Finally, after 44 exhausting days, an anonymous Klan informer led authorities to the
earthern dam where the three bodies were buried. By now, their tomb was already grassed
over due to the heavy July rains. The Klan informant received a $30,000 payoff to do so. It
marked the first time in history the FBI had officially offered a reward for information.
Four months later, Price and 20 others were taken into custody by the FBI. Since murder
charges were not then possible under federal law, the onus of prosecution therefore fell on
the State of Mississippi. Claiming lack of sufficient evidence and unreliable witnesses, the
governor refused to bring such charges, even though FBI officials offered to submit their
entire batch of findings and testimony to the state. Exasperated, the FBI had no choice but
to settle for the lesser crime of depriving the victims of their civil rights by murdering
them. A federal grand jury convened by the Justice Department handed down indictments
against 18, deputy included. Even then, Mississippi tried to buck the federal government.
The district court judge was William Howard Cox, an ardent segregationsit who had once
likened blacks to chimpanzees. He reduced the charge to a misdemeanor, but that action
was reversed by the Supreme Court.
After three years of complicated legal maneuvering, seven of those arrested were found
guilty of conspiring to deny "life or liberty without due process" of Schwerner, Goodman,
and Chaney. They were given sentences ranging from three to ten years. The verdict in
United States v. Cecil Price et al. marked the first time ever an all-white jury in Mississippi
convicted white defendants in a civil rights case. Still, it was a compromise decision. The
low number of convictions and relatively mild sentences made the whole affair bittersweet.
The jury failed to convict well over half the defendants. Among those who eluded a guilty
verdict were several individuals who were undoubtedly involved. To believe otherwise is
simply naive. In regard to the sentences, the judge remarked, "They killed one nigger, one
Jew, and a white man—I gave them all what I thought they deserved." By the time
Mississippi Burning showed in theaters, the entire bunch had been released from prison
(none served more than six years), almost all of them returning to gainful employment in
their respective communities. Over the years, there was no sincere expression of remorse
by any of the conspirators. Most of them remained tight-lipped and when they did speak
up their comments were belligerent.
The legal injustice was somewhat vindicated four decades later when the State of
Mississippi decided to reopen the cases against the surviving conspirators in the Freedom
Summer slayings. As a result, Edgar Ray "Preacher" Killen, then 79 years old, was finally
convicted of murder. Killen was among the original group indicted, but a hung jury
enabled him to escape justice. Although somewhat disappointing because the State had
initially planned to prosecute others connected with the 1964 executions, Killen was the
most conspicuous of several culprits who were never convicted but surely were involved.
The mothers of Goodman and Chaney, Chaney's brother Ben, and Schwerner's widow
were all alive to know the outcome.
Alton Wayne Roberts, 29 • Meridian window salesman • Sentenced to 10 years
Roberts was a former high school football star and ex-marine, dishonorably discharged for fighting and drunkenness. He was
among the most rabid of the 70+ Klan members who attacked the Mount Zion Church a few days prior to the murders of
Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman, and James Chaney. On the night of June 21, Roberts was the eager hit man for at least
two of the slayings. (After considerable discussion about who would actually pull the trigger, Roberts insisted.) When he
emerged from a pre-trial hearing following his arrest, he sprinted across the courthouse lawn to assault a CBS cameraman.
After serving his sentence in a Kansas penitentiary, he returned to Meridian and found work with a car dealership, then as a
bouncer, and later owned a nightclub. He died of heart failure in 2004.
Sam Bowers, Jr., 43 • Owner of Sambo's Amusements in Laurel • Sentenced to 10 years
Bowers, a navy veteran, was Imperial Wizard of the recently-formed White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, which after less than a
year of existence included some 10,000 members. Bowers instructed Klan members to "activate Plan 4" when it was learned
that Schwerner, already considered a target by the KKK because of earlier action, was back in Mississippi attempting to rally
local blacks to vote. Bowers served his sentence in Washington, then returned to his jukebox and vending machine business
in Laurel, only to be charged with ordering another murder—that of NAACP leader Vernon Dahmer in Hattiesburg—which
occurred in 1966 prior to the trial for the Freedom Summer killings. After four deadlocked trials, Bowers was finally convicted
in 1998 and sentenced to life in prison. He was incarcerated in Mississippi. When Schwerner, Goodman, and Chaney were
hustled out of their station wagon and into Price's patrol car, one member of the murder squad mocked them, "So y'all wanted
to come to Miss'ippi? Well, now we're gonna let y'all stay here. We're not even gonna run y'all out." As it turned out, Bowers,
as well, will never leave Mississippi.
Cecil Ray Price, 29 • Neshoba County Chief Deputy Sheriff • Sentenced to 6 years
Price's involvement in the conspiracy is especially despicable. Acting under the auspices of law enforcement, Price detained
Schwerner, Goodman, and Chaney in jail on a flimsy speeding charge while plans for their demise were formed, then delivered
the three victims to the KKK murder squad. Price remained at the scene as the murders transpired, but he was not present
during the disposal of the bodies. Six weeks later, when the FBI learned where the bodies were buried and began digging for
them, Price even picked up a shovel and helped. Price considered himself a shoo-in for sheriff whenever it happened that
Lawrence Rainey vacated the post. But when that time came, Price was defeated in the election by Ethel Glen "Hop" Barnette,
a co-defendant in the Freedom Summer case. When the courtroom clerk read the jury's decision regarding Price, she
mistakenly announced, "We, the jury, find the defendant, Cecil Ray Price, not guilty as charged in the indictment." She
immediately realized her error, "Oh, excuse me," and proceeded to recite the verdicts correctly. Price was paroled after serving
slightly less than four years in a Minnesota prison. He bounced from one job to the next, including oil truck driver and watch
repairman before being hired as a safety officer for Olen Burrage, one of the defendants. Price's death in 2001 occurred under
somewhat suspicious circumstances. He died from head injuries suffered in a job-related accident while employed at an
equipment rental store shortly after the State of Mississippi showed strong interest in generating a retrial against some of the
Freedom Summer defendants still living. According to sources, Price would have been a principal co-defendant or provided
key testimony—either way, invaluable to the prosecution. There were no witnesses to Price's fatal mishap.
Billy Wayne Posey, 30 • Williamsville Phillips 66 gas station manager • Sentenced to 6 years
The task of arranging for disposal of the slain activists' bodies was assigned to Posey. He met with Olen Burrage, on whose
property the victims would be buried, and Herman Tucker, a heavy-equipment operator who occasionally worked for Burrage,
to iron out the details. Posey drove one of the cars in the death caravan. Once the murders were committed, Posey, with
Roberts and James Jordan as passengers in the CORE station wagon, transported the bodies from the crime scene to the
burial spot, whereupon he placed the bodies on the ground and signaled Tucker to finish the grisly mission. When the bodies
were unearthered 44 days later, one of Goodman's hands clutched a small amount of dirt, lending thought to the possibility,
however remote, that there might have been a few breaths of life still in Goodman when he was buried. Posey was paroled
after four years in prison.
Horace Doyle Barnette, 28 • Auto mechanic & parts dealer in Meridian • Sentenced to 3 years
Barnette confessed to his involvement a month after fellow Klan cohort James Jordan did so. Unlike Jordan, however,
Barnette did not testify in the trial—he repudiated his statement when his indictment was handed down. Further, the judge
ruled that because Barnette was a defendant, his statement could not be used against his co-defendants. Hence, the value of
Barnette's statement was historical rather than legal. It is his description of the shootings on Rock Cut Road, more than any
other single source, that serves as record of what actually transpired. According to Jordan's testimony, Barnette inflicted at
least one of the three gunshot wounds to Chaney. Barnette is one of the few conspirators who did not return to Mississippi
after his release from prison. He settled in Louisiana, probably fearful of some level of retaliation by the KKK despite
withdrawing his statement and serving prison time himself.
Jimmy Arledge, 30 • Meridian truck driver • Sentenced to 3 years
Arledge was at the crime scene. There is considerably less information floating around about Arledge than the other
conspirators, thus creating the impression, correct or not, that Snowden was a less enthusiastic participant. He and brotherin-law Horace Doyle Barnette both served their prison terms in Texas. Reportedly, they were subjected to beatings at the
hands of black inmates who gained knowledge of the reason Arledge and Barnette were doing time.
Jimmie Snowden, 34 • Delivery man for Troy Laundry in Meridian • Sentenced to 3 years
After Schwerner, Goodman, and Chaney were shoved into Price's squad car, Snowden drove their station wagon to the murder
spot. (Arledge, as well, has been mentioned by some sources as the person who drove the activists' vehicle.)
Edgar Ray "Preacher" Killen, 42 • Baptist minister & sawmill operator • Hung jury
Once Price had the boys locked up in the county jail, he contacted Killen who immediately acted to coordinate the executions.
(The recent attack on the Longdale church,as well, had been organized by Killen.) He met with Klan members at the Longhorn
Drive-In, then at Akin's Mobile Homes, and finally at the courthouse in Philadelphia. Killen then rushed off to the McClainHayes Funeral Home to establish an alibi for the evening by signing the register for his deceased uncle and a little girl in the
next parlor. Killen's presence at the crime scene is subject to question; his attendance at the burial of the bodies is confirmed.
He escaped conviction because a jurist, by her own admonition, refused to convict a preacher (technically a violation of jurers'
sworn duties). For the next 40 years, Killen lived in Philadelphia. In 2005, Killen was retried on state charges and sentenced to
three 20-year terms for three counts of manslaughter. Much of the impetus for the retrial came from Sam Bowers, who when
interviewed in 1998 implicated Killen. sought to prosecute all of the eight surviving members of the original group of 18
indicted, but only Killen's happened.
Jerry Sharpe, 28 • Pulpwood hauler • Hung jury
Sharpe was identified by Jordan as a member of the KKK murder squad present at Rock Cut Road. Sharpe, along with Roberts
and perhaps another man was probably inand Rogers was probably in the car driven by Posey. Barnette, however, did not
mention Sharpe's name in his statement of confession.
Lawrence Rainey, 44 • Neshoba County Sheriff • Acquitted
Though legally exonerated, to imagine that Rainey had no knowledge of the affair, before and after the slayings took place,
ignores reality. Two Klan informants told the FBI that Rainey was involved. Rainey's treatment of blacks in the line of duty was
already tainted. Several years prior, he shot and killed a black man from Chicago who was complying with Rainey's order to
get out of his car. On another occasion Rainey used a heavy leather belt to whip a black man who had been stripped of all his
clothes. Further, he made no attempt to mask his membership in the Ku Klux Klan. Rainey was forced to sell his house to pay
for his trial counsel. After resigning as sheriff, he was hired as a security guard at a local IGA grocery store. Bomb threats
against the store, linked to the murders, led to Rainey's dismissal. Unable to secure employment locally, he moved to
Kentucky. When Rainey's boss there learned of his checkered past, he also sent Rainey on his way. Eventually, Rainey
returned to Mississippi and went to work for McDonald's Security Guard Service in Meridian, owned by a black man. In a 1975
interview, Rainey summarized the misfortune that befell him as a result of Freedom Summer: "The FBI set out to break me of
everything, and they done it. I was acquitted, but I was the big loser." Sympathy for the devil, anyone? Rainey died in 2002 of
oral cancer.
Richard Willis, 43 • Philadelphia policeman • Acquitted
It was Willis who was alleged to have been in Price's patrol car when Price saw Schwerner, Goodman, and Chaney drive out of
town on Highway 19 toward Meridian following their release from jail. Price returned to the police station to drop off Willis
before giving chase to the three boys. Parked nearby was a 1957 two-tone blue Ford Fairlane full of Klansmen—Barnette
driving, with Arledge, Jordan, and Snowden aboard. Willis informed the gang what route to take out of Philadelphia in order to
catch up with Price and their human prey. The Price and Barnette vehicles were later joined by Posey in his 1958 maroon
Chevrolet.
Frank Herndon, 48 • Owner of Longhorn Drive-In • Acquitted
It was at Herndon's restaurant in Meridian that the details of the crime were plotted. The drive-in was a reputed hangout for
local Klansmen. Herndon did not accompany the murder gang.
Olen Burrage, 37 • Owner of trucking company in Philadelphia • Acquitted
Burrage owned the 253-acre Old Jolly Farm on which the bodies were recovered by the FBI. Burrage once commented at a
Klan meeting about the horde of civil rights workers poised to invade Mississippi, "Hell, I've got a dam that'll hold a hundred of
'em." He was waiting on the highway near the farm to provide directions to the determined buriel spot.
Herman Tucker, 38 • Owner-operator of two Caterpillar bulldozers • Acquitted
Tucker operated the bulldozer that covered over the bodies.
Bernard Akin, 52 • Owner of Akin's Mobile Homes in Meridian • Acquitted
Owner of Akin's Mobile Homes in Meridian where Killen met with some of the Klan to inform them of the evening's gruesome
schedule. Beyond allowing the conspirators to meet on his property, before and after the crime, Akin did not partake in the
incident.
James Jordan • Philadelphia liquor store & beer-joint operator • Sentenced to 4 years
Jordan took an active role in the conspiracy. He was one of the men in the Ford that followed Price as he chased the activists
on Highway 19 after releasing them from jail. Once the boys were apprehended, Jordan rode with Price (Schwerner, Goodman,
and Chaney had been shoved into the back seat) to the place where the executions would occur. According to Barnette's
written statement, after Roberts shot Schwerner and then Goodman, Jordan yanked Chaney from the patrol car and shot him
in the stomach, saying, "Well, y'all didn't leave me nothin' but a nigger, but at least I killed me a nigger." Roberts fired two
additional shots at Chaney. Jordan denied any role in the actual murders, claiming he was stationed at the Highway 19 turnoff
onto New Cut Road as a lookout and made his way to the scene only after Schwerner, Goodman, and Chaney were already
dead. During the FBI investigation, off-handed comments made about town by Jordan himself suggested that he was involved.
Coupled with Jordan's nervous personality, the FBI pegged him as a possible informant. After some especially grueling
interrogation, Jordan broke. His arrest was staged and he was relocated to Georgia to shield him from any Klan pressure prior
to his court appearance. Jordan's own trial for his role in the crime took place in Atlanta. He pled guilty. Two other Klan
informants, Wallace Miller and Delmar Dennis, also provided incriminating testimony about details leading up to the incident
but not the actual murders themselves. Neither were not part of the events of June 21.
In a demonstration of solidarity, the parents of Schwerner, Goodman, and Chaney asked
that their sons be buried together. Their request denied because Mississippi state law
prohibited integrated cemeteries, Chaney was buried apart from his two comrades. A
memorial to the slain activists now stands in the yard of the Longdale church, rebuilt—in
brick—two years after it was burned. Mississippi Burning does not at any point mention
the names of the three real-life heroes (the closing credits identify the cast members as
"Goatee," "Passenger," and "Black Passenger") though the film clearly pays them
homage.
Mississippi Burning garnered seven Academy Award nominations, including best picture,
in 1989. Hackman and Dafoe, two of Hollywood's finest, do not disappoint. The movie tugs
at a host of emotions, and in the end the good guys win—sort of. But viewers must realize
that mixed with the film's accurate portrayal of southern racism and dominance of the rural
South by the repugnant Ku Klux Klan is vivid drama which markedly deviates from factual
events. The movie's scripted departure from reality provides its theater audience with a
more absolving, more gratifying version of history than what actually transpired. In other
words, viewers see what they wish would have happened in solving the lurid Freedom
Summer murders, rather than what did happen. David Halberstam, who covered the
Freedom Summer for the New York Times, was especially critical of the movie. He called it
"Mississippi False." Simply, Mississippi Burning is fiction based on a historical event, but
laced with just enough bits and pieces of genuine history to make it a meaningful device if
viewed carefully. Watch it for what it is, not for what it isn't. The movie is rated R for
graphic violence and occasional rough language.
QUESTIONS
Select the best response for each item according to information learned via Mississippi
Burning, lectures, and reading assignments.
1. The chief objective of the Freedom Summer campaign was to:
a. register black voters in southern states
b. elect Democrats to available seats in Congress
c. provide free transportation to the polls on election day
d. expose and prosecute members of the Ku Klux Klan who obstructed black
voters
2. All of the following events took place during the same year the Freedom Summer
occurred except:
a. the Warren Commission issued its 888-page report on the assassination of
President John F. Kennedy, wherein its seven members unanimously
concluded that although Lee Harvey Oswald's motives are unclear, he likely
acted alone when he shot JFK
b. based on apparent unprovoked attacks by the North Vietnamese on two
American destroyers, Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
effectively granting President Lyndon B. Johnson the legal license to
escalate the Vietnam War
c. the Beatles arrived in New York City for their first American tour; nearly
5,000 screaming girls were at the airport to greet George Harrison, John
Lennon, Paul McCartney, and Ringo Starr
d. for six days, some 10,000 blacks roamed the streets of the Watts district in
Los Angeles, resulting in 34 deaths, injuries to countless others, almost
4,000 arrests, and over $100 million in property damages before order was
finally restored
3. Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman, and James Earl Chaney were jailed:
a. because they were speeding
b. to protect them from area KKK thugs reportedly prowling for them that
evening
c. because with Chaney in the back seat, and considering the fact that he was
a local boy, law enforcement officials initially thought he was being
abducted by two white rednecks (Schwerner and Goodman in the front
seat)
d. to allow local Kluxers time to organize the boys' fatal ambush which would
take place later that night
4. The bodies of Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman, and James Earl Chaney were
eventually recovered:
a. beneath stacks of hay in the loft of an abandoned barn
b. in their station wagon dumped in a swamp
c. buried in an earthen dam on a nearby farm
d. laying in a roadside ditch near where they were murdered
5. In time, eight people were convicted in the Freedom Summer incident on charges
of:
a. first-degree (premeditated) murder
b. kidnapping and extortion
c. several relatively minor charges (such as aggravated assault, battery, and
harassment)
d. depriving the victims of their civil rights (by murdering them)
6. The role of the FBI in solving the murders of Michael Schwerner, Andrew
Goodman, and James Earl Chaney, and more generally, in upholding civil rights in
the South, is most accurately described as:
a. immediate concern and zealous pursuit of justice
b. lukewarm participation in the crime investigation and halfhearted effort
extended toward protecting civil rights
c. anxious to solve the murder case, but apathetic toward any civil rights
violations
d. virtually no substantial interest in either finding the guilty party or guarding
civil rights
7. The least realistic character portrayal in Mississippi Burning is that of:
a. FBI agent Anderson (aka agent John Proctor), who broke the case by
squeezing a confession from one of the participants
b. Mrs. Pell (aka Mrs. Price), the deputy sheriff's wife, who volunteered
important details of the crime to the FBI
c. Sheriff Ray Stuckey (aka Sheriff Lawrence Rainey), who was not directly
linked to the killings, but almost surely had ample knowledge of them
d. Clayton Townley (aka Sam Bowers, Jr., the Imperial Wizard of the White
Knights chapter of the KKK), who boldly admonished his passionate
southern brethren to resist northern intervention and maintain white
supremacy
8. The organization formed in 1909 by William E. B. Du Bois and others for the
purpose of obtaining black equality and abolishing segregation is the:
a. SNCC
b. NAACP
c. CORE
d. NCAA
9. The Supreme Court case which essentially struck down segregation in public
schools by disavowing the "separate but equal" doctrine is:
a. West Virginia Board of Education v. Barnette (1943)
b. Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954)
c. School District of Abington Township, Pennsylvania v. Schempp (1963)
d. Tinker v. Des Moines Public Schools (1969)
10. All of the following were sites of heated race-related events during the 1950s and
1960s except:
a. Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas
b. the Dixie Hotel lobby in Macon, Georgia
c. Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama
d. the Woolworth's lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina
11. American society during the 1960s was characterized by:
a. affluence and social fragmentation
b. patriotism and racial unity
c. conformity and economic prosperity
d. political concensus and social stability
12. Soon after his elevation to the White House, Lyndon B. Johnson boasted that "civil
rightsers are going to have to wear sneakers to keep up with me." In truth, LBJ's
presidential record on civil rights is best summarized as:
a. enactment of sweeping civil rights legislation granting the federal
government new powers to fight segregation
b. congressional opposition, especially by southern die-hard segregationists,
crippled attempts to extend the solid civil rights successes of the Kennedy
administration
c. few lasting positive results in spite of excessive government spending to
enact measures and frequent use of federal troops to force action
d. emphasis on increased educational opportunities for blacks, but failure to
address economic concerns
13. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 accomplished all of the following except:
a. granted the Justice Department expanded powers to deal with school
segregation
b. made racial discrimination in public outlets (such as restaurants, hotels,
and theaters) illegal
c. empowered federal authorities to monitor each state's voter registration
process
d. allowed the national government leverage to curtail funding to any state
which employed racially discriminatory practices
14. All of the following statements were made by leaders of the black community
during the 1960s civil rights movement except:
a. "The common enemy is the white man"—James Meredith
b. "...the greatest problem confronting this country today is not pollution and
bad breath"—H. Rapp Brown
c. "I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi...will be
transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice"—Martin Luther King, Jr.
d. "Our only hope is to control the vote"—Medgar Evers
15. The major contrast between Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X was:
a. whereas King rose to prominence from relative poverty, Malcolm X's
background was one of wealth and privilege
b. the base message of Malcolm X was political whereas King's focus was
strictly religious
c. whereas King urged peaceful means to achieve racial equality, Malcolm X
endorsed much more aggressive tactics
d. Malcolm X's major arena was affluent white communities of the North and
West whereas King targeted black audiences throughout the Deep South
16. By the mid-1960s, the highest percentage of America's blacks lived in:
a. large cities
b. small towns and rural communities
c. suburbs of major metropolitan areas
d. lakefront property and condominiums near fitness clubs and golf courses
17. The statement which best reflects the findings of the Kerner Commission regarding
inner-city unrest culminating in riots such as that which occurred in the Watts
district of Los Angeles during 1965 is:
a. "interracial violence is rooted in deteriorating urban conditions (poverty,
unemployment, and poor schooling) and hatred of white police as symbols
of authority"
b. "heated racial problems are confined to regions of the country that had
been heavily involved in slavery"
c. "violence usually results from friction between white police officers, often
racist, and black youths; hence, stronger commitment to law and order is
needed to prevent racial violence"
d. "no government action, presently authorized or conceivably hopeful, could
effectively alter the racial tension in America because it has become so
deeply and irreversibly ingrained during the course of an entire century of
events"
18. "The stated purpose of this group, formed in 1966 in Oakland, was to protect the
ghetto blacks against 'police harassment.' Claiming to be opposed to violence
except in cases of 'self-defense,' this organization affected a paramilitary stance,
wearing similar attire and prominently displaying guns. Its leadership labeled the
existing American system 'racist, fascist, and imperialist.' Its members often
clashed with police." The radical group described is the:
a. Black Berets
b. Nation of Islam (aka Black Muslims)
c. Black Panthers
d. Negro League
19. Like Paul B. Johnson, Jr. of Mississippi, all of the following were outspoken
segregationist governors except:
a. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina (1947-1951)
b. John Connally of Texas (1963-1969)
c. George Wallace of Alabama (four various terms during 1963-1987)
d. Lester Maddox of Georgia (1967-1971)
20. "When the American flag was raised and The Star-Spangled Banner played, each of
the participants closed his eyes, bowed his head, and raised a black-glove-covered
fist to form the 'Black Power salute.' But there was more than the gloves. One of
the men later explained that he extended his right fist in the air to represent black
power in America while his partner's left raised fist indicated unity in black
America. Together, therefore, the two protestors formed an arch of unity and
power. Their shoeless feet and black socks were meant to portray black poverty in
racist America. One man wore a black scarf around his neck to symbolize black
pride while his friend wore a string of beads to commemorate black people who
had been lynched." The incident described, which shocked America in 1968,
occurred at the:
a. funeral of Martin Luther King, Jr. in Atlanta
b. Summer Olympics in Mexico City
c. federal court's sentencing of seven Ku Klux Klan members found guilty of
murdering three Freedom Summer activists in Mississippi
d. stormy Democratic National Convention in Chicago marked by brutal
"police riots"
21. All of the following "Motown Sound" hits of the 1960s and 1970s reached #1 on the
Billboard Hot 100 except:
a.
b.
c.
d.
"Uptight (Everything's Alright)" by Stevie Wonder
"You Can't Hurry Love" by Diana Ross & the Supremes
"I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)" by the Four Tops
"The Tears of a Clown" by Smokey Robinson & the Miracles
22. The prologue to Mississippi Burning (the drinking fountain scene) is illustrative of:
a. the "separate but equal" doctrine
b. Jim Crow laws
c. the Harlem Renaissance movement
d. "affirmative action" measures
23. One episode of Mississippi Burning briefly shows a Major League Baseball game
broadcast on television. (Actually, baseball games were not televised at night in
1964.) According to the game announcer, heard in the backgound as the movie
scene progresses, the St. Louis Cardinals are leading the New York Mets 4-2.
Pitching for St. Louis is the great Bob Gibson, whose record-setting career led to
his induction to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1981. The player credited
with breaking the color barrier in professional baseball is:
a. Willie Mays of the San Francisco Giants
b. Frank Robinson of the Cincinnati Reds
c. Elston Howard of the New York Yankees
d. Jackie Robinson of the Brooklyn Dodgers
24. In years following the Freedom Summer affair, the State of Mississippi did all of the
following except:
a. honored the request made by the parents of Schwerner, Goodman, and
Chaney to have their sons buried near each other
b. made an immediate astonishing leap in black voter registration
c. became embroiled in controversy concerning display of the historic
Confederate flag at Ole Miss football games in Oxford
d. reopened the case, pursuing murder charges against those individuals still
alive who were believed to have been involved in the slayings of
Schwerner, Goodman, and Chaney
25. The movie Mississippi Burning is best described as a/an:
a. story based on an actual event, but containing numerous historical flaws
b. utter fabrication, even though it is set in a real historical era
c. film produced with great attention to total historical accuracy
d. somewhat reliable account of a true historical incident
NOTES
Write five important facts that you learned from Mississippi Burning, assigned reading,
and lecture about the civil rights movement in America.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
EXTENDED RESPONSE
Choose one of the following. Your response should be 3-5 typed, double-spaced pages
and include a list of sources used (minimum of three required).
1. Describe two ways in which each of the following entities has affected the cause of
civil rights since 1900—the presidency; Congress; the Supreme Court; state
governments; public organizations.
2. Discuss the various forms of white resistance to the civil rights movement of the
1950s and 1960s. Which tactics were the most effective in slowing the drive toward
racial equality? How did the black community counter those tactics?
3. Select any two of the following and describe the impact of each on the post-World
War II civil rights movement—Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954); arrest
of Rosa Parks; integration crisis at Central High School in Little Rock; Martin
Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech; "Freedom Summer" campaign of 1964;
Civil Rights Act of 1964.
"We're going to see that the law is maintained,
and maintained Mississippi style."