Friday, July 19, 2019

The Mississippi Burning :: Civil Rights Racism Equality Essays

The Mississippi Burning Mississippi Burning brings awareness to the ways of the Jim Crow south. In 1964, three civil rights workers made their way to Neshoba County. Two of the workers were white and the third boy was black. The suspicious disappearance of the men brought the attention of the FBI. Some people question whether the FBI only got involved because two of the workers were white. This movie reveals the improper treatment of African Americans at a time when every American citizen was guaranteed equal rights under the law. Many African Americans felt that there was little concern for the African American civil rights worker. The FBI was determined to find out what actually happened to these boys. The local authorities said that the men were probably in New York or Canada laughing at all of the commotion they had caused. The racism that African Americans dealt with is very clear throughout the entire movie. The town did not feel that it was necessary for the FBI to be investigating the mysterious disappearance. They assured the FBI that there was nothing to uncover and only wanted them to stop disturbing their â€Å"peaceful† town. The Brown vs. Board of education decision is not evident in Mississippi Burning. African Americans sat in the back of the restaurant, separated from whites. The community was not integrated. There was a specific part of town where the African Americans lived. African Americans and whites did not interact very much. The KKK played a major part in controlling these â€Å"niggers.† When one of the FBI agents talked to a local black boy in public, the boy was brutally assaulted by KKK members. The way that whites treated African American shows how their struggle for freedom still continued. Some of the local law-enforcement were members of the Klan. They played a role in the murdering of the three boys. When the FBI came to town, hostility in the town grew. Many African Americans wished that the FBI would just leave because they were just causing more problems. African Americans were being beaten, having their houses destroyed, churches burnt down, and some even lynched.

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